Malta has missed the European Commission’s deadline to submit its national plan for renewable energy specifying how it will produce 10 per cent of the country’s energy needs from alternative sources by 2020.
According to the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, Malta had until June 30 to file the plan following a mini-forecast presented to the Commission earlier this year.
“Malta is among a number of member states that have not respected our deadline and has still not sent its action plan. The only two National Renewable Energy Alternatives Plans received so are from Denmark and the Netherlands,” Commission sources said.
Earlier this year, Malta had already been late to submit its forecasts report – a mini version of the NREAP – which reached Brussels weeks after the deadline.
The news comes after a “hypothetical” analysis by the National Audit Office found that if Malta fails to reach its EU renewable energy targets it could cost the country about €400 million.
A government spokesman acknowledged the ministry was late but said the plan should be finalised in the coming weeks.
“This is a highly complex matter – including the prediction of the effect of various forms of renewable energy on overall consumption for the next 10 years – and work is ongoing; it is expected to be completed in the coming weeks,” the spokesman said.
The Renewable Energy Directive, agreed by member states two years ago, sets national targets for alternative energy so the EU as a whole would be drawing 20 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020.
Malta’s national target has been set at just 10 per cent, the lowest of the 27, as the island will be starting from scratch. In fact, Malta is the only EU member state which depends entirely on fossil fuels to produce its energy.
“The Action Plan would help us monitor the development of each individual member state to see that they are implementing their plans in detail. This is a long-term project which needs a lot of planning from member states. You can’t expect to produce 10 per cent of all your energy needs in 2020 if implementation starts only in 2018,” the sources said.
Although the government has been planning to implement various projects, everything is still at embryonic stage and no infrastructure has yet been put in place.
The biggest project is plans for three wind farms, one offshore and two onshore, capable of producing a total of 109.4 MW of energy. However, the offshore facility, which would be the biggest, is fraught with logistical challenges.
Other projects include a submarine cable connecting Malta to the European electricity grid and the further use of photovoltaic and solar energy through schemes promoting the technology for household and business use.
According to an assessment issued in Brussels earlier this year, based on the preliminary forecasts submitted by Malta, if everything goes according to plan, in 2020 Malta would be able to produce 9.2 per cent of all its energy needs through renewable technology. The remaining 0.81 per cent to meet the 10 per cent target would be imported.