Malta needs to invest more in renewable energy sources to allow it to achieve energy independence, the green party has argued.
“With the spiralling increase in the price of essential commodities that is also expected to continue in the coming months due to the economic impact from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Malta should safeguard its energy security by accelerating further investment in locally generated renewable energy," ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said at a press conference in Qormi on Saturday morning.
The vast majority of electricity in Malta is either imported directly through the undersea interconnector or generated locally through imported LNG.
Malta generated 9.7 per cent of its electricity through renewable sources in 2020, the last year for which data is available. That places it dead-last in the EU member state pack and well below the EU-wide target of 20 per cent by that year.
The Labour government has pledged to build a second interconnector in the upcoming legislature and made a vague promise about "working with the private sector to develop offshore renewable energy projects".
Concerns about energy dependence on external sources have risen to the fore in recent months, after Russia’s invasion into Ukraine sparked a volley of sanctions and prompted the West to look for ways of weaning itself off Russian energy imports.
“Putin’s war has brought to the fore the urgent need for Europe to gain its energy independence. We are all affected by this war which once more proves that geopolitical issues have a large negative impact on all,” Cacopardo said on Saturday.
The ADPD has said that it backs calls by green MEPs for the European Commission to fast track its process towards a 100% renewable energy target.
“We must not waste any more precious time,” insisted Cacopardo.
The ADPD chairperson was flanked by deputy secretary-general Sandra Gauci, who noted that the rising cost of essential commodities was causing special hardships to those on society’s most vulnerable. People earning a minimum wage, those who have special food needs or those with babies and infants have been especially badly hit, Gauci noted.
Business owners who manufacture products that use wheat and sunflower oil have also felt the pinch, with costs for those products skyrocketing as a result of the Russian invasion.
Gauci said that while the government cannot control geopolitical developments, it could do something locals weather the tough times: overhaul the way the minimum wage is calculated and award a cost-of-living increase twice a year.
“We do not want the insulting, patronising Father Christmas government giving out cheques through the mail during an election campaign. The new government should reflect its mantra that it is a “government which listens” by taking the necessary action as soon as parliament meets,” concluded Gauci.