The Interreg MED project MAESTRALE took its last steps in Malta on the 20th of September, when MIEMA (Malta Intelligent Energy Management Agency), with the fundamental contribution of AquaBioTech Ltd, successfully carried out a one-day-long event including a training session on Blue Energy Entrepreneurship, combined with the fourth (and last) Regional Blue Energy Lab stakeholders’ meeting and an Open Day for the dissemination of project results to the general public.
Attendees to the event – organized at the premises of AquaBioTech Ltd in Mosta –included delegates from the Energy and Water Agency, the Malta Investment bank, Nature Trust Malta and the University of Malta.
The Training, performed by Prof. Joseph Buhagiar (University of Malta, Department of Biology) and Mr. George Mantas (AquaBioTech Ltd), was conceived as an effective alternation of short lectures and interactive sessions, aimed at transferring knowledge and raising awareness on the multiple aspects to be considered when dealing with Blue Energy: technologies, regulations, environmental issues, socio-economic considerations.
The Regional Blue Energy Lab (BEL) had a stronger focus on the MAESTRALE project, and especially on the two pilot projects identified for Malta: production of biofuels from algae and exploitation of marine thermal energy. AquaBioTech has been selected through a tendering procedure to assess the viability of these concepts in the Maltese Islands, and is in the process of finalizing the two feasibility studies that will constitute the final output of MAESTRALE. Discussion on pilot projects – started within the BEL – continued during an Open public meeting and highlighted the strong interest arisen by Blue Energy themes within the audience. The meeting also featured a presentation by Mr David Campbell (from UK-based company ALBATEL) on off-grid energy economics.
MAESTRALE – a 3-years’ project funded under the Interreg MED Programme and coordinated by the University of Siena – has almost come to its conclusion: a Final Conference is scheduled on the 5th of November in Rimini, Italy, within the framework of the ECOMONDO fair, a European-level event for new circular economy models. More information can be found at: https://maestrale.interreg-med.eu/.
