Energy and Water Financing Opportunities for Manufacturers

As part of the WE MAKE Project, the Malta Business Bureau, The Malta Chamber and Energy and Water Agency launched a set of workshops aimed at improving energy efficiency in manufacturing SMEs. The workshops will be held every two months over 2022 and focus on three topics: B2B best practice sharing, financing for energy efficiency projects, and innovation in energy and water efficiency.

The first workshop focused on financial measures supporting energy efficiency, with overviews of several grants available to the Maltese business community, including the EWA energy audit grant, and three Malta Enterprise grants: Smart and Sustainable, Change to Grow, and Investment Aid in Energy Efficiency. This was moderated by Ing. Patrick Spiteri Staines, Chairperson of The Malta Chamber’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Committee.

The EWA energy audit grant offers financial support for small to medium businesses to carry out energy audits. On the other hand, the Malta Enterprise Smart and Sustainable measure supports business investments that lead to more sustainable and digitalised processes, leading to the enhancement of competitiveness through resource efficiency. The Malta Enterprise Investment Aid in Energy Efficiency measure supports businesses in implementing energy efficiency projects.

The workshop has already generated interest in the business community, with several businesses expressing interest in an energy audit grant, and innovative project concepts being discussed.
Addressing the first workshop, WE MAKE project partner EWA CEO Manuel Sapiano, said “In recent weeks the Agency concluded sessions with certified Energy Auditors listed with the Regulator for Energy and Water Services portraying information on the array of financing tools available so they can also act as promoters to these national opportunities for enterprises. We need to move from audits which just see an expert identifying issues, to exercises which additionally guide the commercial sector to support schemes which can help address these issues.”

The workshops form part of a wider outreach towards manufacturing SMEs through the WE MAKE Project, which includes B2B networking, best practice dissemination, promoting innovation through projects, mentoring, and matching businesses to energy and water efficiency financing.

Addressing attendees, Dr Marthese Portelli, The Malta Chamber CEO, said “The Malta Chamber believes in supporting businesses in a tangible way to embrace sustainability and become more energy efficient. Through the WE MAKE project we help businesses identify what can be improved and how, as well as direct them to funding schemes supporting the upgrading, changing and renovation of equipment, installations and illumination systems.”

MBB CEO Joe Tanti stated “Through this, we aim to help manufacturing SMEs identify energy efficiency projects and the financing for those projects. Our end goal is to help businesses implement projects that result in higher energy efficiency, thus reducing costs. We believe the opportunities are present in many businesses, and that the support being provided can help them achieve this potential.”

Further workshops will be held in April, June, August, October, and December. Interested businesses are encouraged to contact the project partnership to receive further information on available support schemes and to register their interest in these workshops.

The Water and Energy Management and Knowledge Transfer in Manufacturing Enterprises (We Make) project, is a collaboration between the Energy and Water Agency (EWA), Malta Business Bureau and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, sponsored by the EWA, to give manufacturing industry businesses guidance on how to consume energy and water efficiently.