Planning Ministry installs solar farm illegally – applies for permit following The Shift’s questions

The Planning and Gozo Ministry, entrusted with the oversight and enforcement of planning laws in Malta, has installed an innovative EU-funded solar farm in Gozo without the necessary development permits from the Planning Authority.

The Ministry, which inaugurated the project in October following months of work, applied for a permit only a day after The Shift asked questions about the missing permit.

The project includes the installation of 15 so-called solar flowers in Ta’ Xhajma in Gozo as part of the multi-modal hub – a massive car park in Xewkija – which is still incomplete despite its official inauguration.

In October, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, together with Parliamentary Secretary Omar Farrugia, inaugurated the project, dubbed the first similar project in the EU.

A total of 15 massive solar flowers – an experimental technology still in its infancy – were installed in a field next to the car park with the intention of producing energy for the same facility.

The project is financed by the EU and is estimated to cost some €850,000. A tender was issued by Public Works in 2024 and won by Alternative Technology Limited, based in Swieqi and owned by Mario and Maria Cachia.

Research by The Shift to identify the development permit related to this installation drew a blank, as no permit appeared to have been issued by the Planning Authority.

When asked for a copy of the permit, the Gozo Ministry said that it formed part of the original car park permit issued six years earlier. This turned out not to be true, as the original permit PA1606/19 did not envisage such an installation.

The Planning Authority also took the same position as the Ministry.

However, just a day after The Shift’s questions (sent on November 7), the architect of the Gozo Ministry filed a minor amendment change-of-use application so that the illegal installation could be regularised.

The PA, which falls under the same Ministry, asked for further clarifications, which were submitted through amended plans on December 2, when the illegal installation was finally validated.

So far, it is not known what led the Planning Ministry to complete infrastructural works without even applying for a permit, and who is going to be held responsible for the latest blunder.

It is also not known why the installation of an innovative and experimental technology was handled by the Planning Ministry and Public Works instead of the Environment and Energy Ministry.