Malta is among the countries that uses the least renewable energy, according to new EU figures.
Eurostat statistics show Malta’s share of renewables in final energy consumption was at 13.4 per cent, the second lowest proportion in the EU.
At 13.1 per cent, Ireland was at the bottom and Sweden, with over two-thirds of its energy coming from renewables, was top among the EU’s member states.
The report, which looked at energy consumption in 2022, showed that nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of the energy consumed in the EU came from renewables, a 1.1 per cent increase when compared to 2021.
In 2004, the year Malta joined the EU, Malta’s clean energy consumption amounted to 0.1 per cent of the total, rising to 3.8 per cent in 2013 and 13.4 per cent in 2022.
The EU’s total renewable energy share needs to almost double if the 27-state block is to reach its commitments by the end of the decade.
Legislation revised in November binds the EU to produce at least 42.5 per cent of its energy via renewable sources by 2030.
Malta’s draft National Energy and Climate Plan says the country plans to contribute to that goal by sustaining incentives for solar panels on roofs and eventually generating energy with offshore renewables.
The document also says that Malta aims to “increase its ambition beyond the set national renewable energy target of 11.5 per cent”.
In November, a spokesperson for the energy ministry said six international companies in the offshore wind business had shown an interest in Malta’s offshore renewable energy policy.
An expression of interest call should be made in the first quarter of 2024, the spokesperson said.
Malta’s first-ever national policy for offshore renewable energy was announced in August, with plans to have the first wind or solar floating farms located between 12 and 25 nautical miles off the island’s shores. Six areas were identified as potential sites for the offshore grid. The government will eventually develop two sites.
The spokesperson did not say how much energy the offshore plants will eventually produce but said the amount would be “considerable”.