Malta will have to invest millions of euros over the next few years in order to meet "ambitious" green targets to be set by the European Commission next week and which will have to be reached by 2020.
Commission sources yesterday confirmed that Malta has already been consulted on the proposed targets.
"We had a meeting with the Maltese authorities last month and we are now preparing the latest studies to set Malta's targets," the sources said.
Asked what the targets were, the sources said these were still being negotiated with individual member states and will only be made public next week.
"It is obvious that Malta will not have the same targets as Denmark because the two countries will not be departing from the same start line. However, Malta's contribution will still have to be significant and will mean that the island will need to invest heavily in the coming few years especially in renewable energy sources."
Next week's Commission proposals follow an agreement reached between the 27 member states last March on a number of overall energy targets to be reached by the EU in 2020 as part of its contribution to tackle climate change.
According to the March agreement, by 2020, 20 per cent of all the EU's energy needs will have to derive from renewable energy sources; 10 per cent of all fuel used in transport will consist of biofuels and carbon emissions will be reduced by at least 20 per cent over 1990 levels.
Although the agreement included provisions to cater differently for individual member states, depending on their progress so far in this sector, Malta will still have to work hard even to achieve much lower targets as it will be practically starting from scratch.
In 2005, Malta's share of renewable energy was just 0.3 per cent of all energy consumption on the island, the lowest share in the EU. Currently, the overall EU average stands at eight per cent.
According to Commission sources, next week's proposals will set two individual targets for all member states.
According to the Commission sources, Malta will probably have the lowest mandatory target on renewable energy in the EU and will keep the possibility of increasing its carbon emissions although not at a fast pace.
On renewable energy, the sources indicated that each country will probably face a minimum mandatory target of between seven and eight per cent. The remainder of the 20 per cent will be achieved through further individual targets set at between eight and nine per cent for new member states and between 13 and14 per cent for the richest member states.
"However, these are still indicative workings," the sources insisted.
Member states are still lobbying the Commission in order to ensure last-minute changes to their individual binding targets. France, Germany and the UK have already made public their concern over the targets negotiated with the Commission.