By Ben Payton
Few European cities can match Valletta for architectural splendour. The capital of Malta was built in the 16th century by the Knights of St John, the Catholic military order that ruled the Mediterranean island for nearly 300 hundred years. Valletta, in fact, claims to be the first planned city in Europe: its success in preserving its character was recognised in 1980, when it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Now, in the era of climate crisis, Valletta faces the challenge of making its infrastructure more sustainable, while preserving its historic buildings and supporting its tourist industry. In 2021, the Valletta Cultural Agency proposed a 2030 plan, in which only electric vehicles would be allowed into the city, while rooftop solar panels would play a greater role in generating power.
Turning vision to reality is not straightforward, however. For one thing, Valletta’s infrastructure has to handle the weight of a massive tourism sector. Malta received nearly 3 million visitors last year (around six times the population of the island). Over 800,000 tourists arrived in cruise ships.
The cruise industry is vital for Valletta’s economy, yet these vast vessels pose a major environmental headache. Cruise ships that keep their engines running while docked in the historic Grand Harbour disgorge various noxious gases and cause noise pollution.
Infrastructure Malta, the government agency that manages major public works projects, installed a shore-to-ship electricity connection for cruise ships in late 2023, one of the first in the Mediterranean. This allows the vessels to be powered by mains electricity for part of the time they are docked.
“This project has the potential to change lives here,” says Ivan Falzon, Infrastructure Malta’s chief executive. He says the shore-to-ship connection will reduce emissions from vessels by 90%, while benefitting 17,000 people who live in residential areas “metres away” from the cruise ship terminal.
Decarbonising road transport is an even larger challenge. The proposed ban on petrol and diesel vehicles appears to have gained little traction, although EVs are becoming more popular.
Maltese ride-hailing company eCabs, which competes locally with Uber and Bolt, plans to electrify its fleet of vehicles by next year. “We believe that the future is electric,” says Matthew Bezzina, the company’s chief executive. The majority of eCabs’ drivers, however, use their own cars, and need some persuading to switch to EVs, Bezzina says.
He tells us that eCabs offers incentives to its self-employed drivers by allowing them to retain a higher share of the revenue from a trip when driving an EV. Government subsidies are also available for EV owners. But, Bezzina says, the biggest hurdle is making public charging infrastructure available, especially for drivers who cannot charge at home. The Maltese government is investing in 1,200 more charging points across the country, on top of around 400 that are available today.
“It’s a question of alignment at this stage,” says Bezzina. “Especially with the ambitious targets that have been set, eventually the infrastructure will align with the incentives.”
Malta basks in 300 days of sunshine per year, but installing solar panels in Valletta presents various issues. The standard practice of fitting panels with a 30-degree south-facing tilt, which usually maximises their ability to capture sunlight, is problematic in a historic city.
“It hurts me when I see, in Valletta itself, some solar panels at a 30-degree angle,” says Mario Cachia, chief executive of solar energy company Alternative Technologies. “It ruins the skyline.”
Cachia praises Malta’s new parliament building, opened in 2015, for taking a more sensitive approach. Alternative Technologies won the tender to install solar panels at the complex and used specialised designs to place the panels at a much less conspicuous 5-degree angle. “We managed to give them something that was aesthetically pleasing, an integral part of the building, and yet functional at the same time,” says Cachia.
Yet Cachia warns that Valletta is “still very far away” from achieving its solar potential. Part of the problem, he says, is that public tenders often fail to specify the need for bespoke designs on rooftop solar systems. These tenders are then awarded to the cheapest bidder, whose solution ultimately proves inadequate.
Even so, Cachia is continuing to work on specialised solutions for Valletta’s rooftops. His team has developed a prototype for a “solar tile”, made with recycled plastic bottles, that generates electricity without changing the aesthetic of a rooftop. “If you do look for the right solution, there is always a way to do it,” he says.
In fact, while Valletta has its challenges, the ingenious urban planning undertaken by the Knights of St John five centuries ago continues to offer lessons that Malta’s modern-day planners would do well to heed.
Luciano Mulè Stagno is director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy at the University of Malta and a former chief executive of Heritage Malta, the agency tasked with conserving Malta’s cultural heritage. He tells us that buildings in Valletta itself tend to boast relatively good sustainability credentials. “They have thicker walls, thicker roofs … They used to build narrower roads, which meant the sun is better controlled.”
By contrast, he laments, as urban sprawl has crept over the island in recent decades, little thought has been paid to sustainability. A powerful construction lobby has resisted requirements for better insulation and greener power. Buildings are often torn down after as little as 20 years, adds Mulè Stagno, so that landowners can build larger apartment blocks.
Reverting to the careful planning practised by Valletta’s builders will be vital if Malta is to succeed in its push towards net zero.
Via Reuters
