Developers who build properties up to the maximum height limitations will have to install photovoltaic panels or other renewable sources of energy on the roof, according to plans approved by the government, the CEO of the new Climate Action Authority has announced.

Speaking on a TVM discussion programme, Abigail Cutajar said the proposal has been agreed upon within the government and is now being discussed by the Planning Authority and the Chamber of Architects.

The measure is aimed at raising the percentage of energy that is produced from renewable sources.

The government has to date been encouraging the installation of photovoltaic units through incentives such as feed-in tariffs but this would be the first time that their installation would become mandatory.

Imposing it on buildings that would have reached the maximum height limitations would mean that the PV panels stand little risk of being shaded in future by neighbouring buildings rising higher.

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli did not disclose the plans in an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta, however, she said measures were needed to raise Malta’s percentage of energy produced from renewable energy.

The National Statistics Office said last week that electricity production from power plants registered an increase of 1.5 per cent in 2023 when compared to the previous year amounting to 2,026.0 GWh.

Energy harvesting from renewable sources registered an increase of 7.3 per cent, reaching 318.6 GWh in 2023. Most of the renewable energy (97.0 per cent) was produced from photovoltaic panels.

In June the NSO said the stock of PV installations in Malta and Gozo amounted to 33,818 of which 85.4 per cent were installed in Malta and 14.6 per cent in Gozo. The total kWp amounted to 241,125.9, an increase of 8.3 per cent over 2022.

In 2023, the commercial sector accounted for 52.7 per cent of total kWp, followed by 44.7 and 2.6 per cent in the domestic and public sectors respectively.