The use of wind turbines can be a great way to provide a source of clean and renewable energy for your home or business. There are a number of small wind energy devices that you can use to generate power, and most of these are very cost effective in providing a substantial level of electricity. Wind turbines use the wind's lift forces to rotate aerodynamic blades that turn a rotor which creates electricity.

Individual turbines vary in size and power output from a few hundred watts to two or three megawatts (MW). A typical domestic system would be 1 - 6 kilowatts (KW). Uses range from very small turbines supplying energy for battery charging systems e.g. on boats or in homes, to turbines on wind farms supplying electricity to the grid.

One has to keep in mind that the electricity generated at any one time by a wind turbine is highly dependent on the speed and direction of the wind. The wind speed itself is dependent on a number of factors, such as location on the island, height of the turbine above ground level and nearby obstructions. Ideally, you should undertake a professional assessment of the local wind speed for a full year at the exact location where you plan to install a turbine before proceeding.

In practice, this may be difficult, expensive and time consuming to undertake.
Planning issues such as visual impact, noise and conservation issues also have to be considered. Unfortunately there are no hard and fast regulations from MEPA and hence this makes it very difficult to establish the appropriate siting of small scale turbines.

Government is offering one off grants and micro wind turbines installed on domestic premises may qualify for a   grant of 25% on the purchase price of microwind systems (with a maximum generation capacity of 3.7 kW) and subject to a maximum of € 232.94. For more information please visit http://www.mra.org.mt/grants.shtml

With regards to feed-in tariffs, the net metering for electricity generated from renewable energy sources has a tariff of a meagre € 0.07/kWh for any excess electricity fed back into the grid. Unfortunately this feed-in tariff rate does not offer an attractive incentive to those willing to invest in clean renewable technologies. One hopes that these tariffs will be reviewed soon.