Malta registered a 221MW installed capacity of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in 2022, generating electricity to power more than 80,730 homes with clean energy, the Energy Ministry said in a statement.
This, it said, resulted in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by more than 134,700 tonnes.
When compared to the previous year, this represented an improvement of 8.3%. Around half of this green energy was generated by the commercial sector, closely followed by the domestic and public sectors.
The ministry said that Malta’s continued increase in electricity generation from renewable energy sources reaffirms the government’s commitment to continue supporting more green investments in this sector to achieve its decarbonisation objectives as soon as possible.
During the same year, Malta saw the successful implementation of solar water heaters in 525 residences.
This resulted in a significant decrease in electricity consumption for water heating, with a total grant amounting to €716,390.
The ministry added that heat pumps were installed in 99 buildings, providing efficient heating and cooling solutions while reducing reliance on traditional energy sources.
This resulted in a total grant amounting to €92,218.
2022 also registered a record-breaking total of 516 applications for household battery storage systems.
Energy Minister Miriam Dalli welcomed the progress and said: "These figures coincide with this week’s announcement that the European Commission confirmed the EU support package for the implementation of Malta’s green energy plans.
"This confirmation galvanises the government’s ambition to continue facilitating more green investments in Malta."
She said that by the end of 2021, Malta was producing 12.15% of its energy requirements from renewable sources, exceeding the 11.5% 2030 target established in the country’s National Energy and Climate Plan
"The government will continue building on these results with even greater initiatives to provide financial and technical support to this renewable energy transition", Dalli said.
"As we stated during the Med9 meeting of energy ministers, we are working to reach our energy objectives through a determined plan with actions at different levels, such as the consolidation of the national grid to accommodate more renewable energy systems, stronger support schemes for small, medium, and large photovoltaic systems by households and businesses, as well as new energy interconnections and large-scale battery storage systems to increase energy mix flexibility and tackle the challenges of renewable energy systems’ intermittency."
Dalli noted that June saw another two major announcements, namely the €47 million investment to develop two grid-scale battery energy storage systems at Delimara and Marsa, and the memorandum of understanding between Malta and Libya to explore the potential of new green energy interconnections between the two countries and mainland Europe.
At the same time, Interconnect Malta is advancing the permitting and planning process for Interconnector 2, the second subsea electricity interconnector between Malta and Italy, Dalli said.