Malta’s production of energy from renewable sources is the second lowest from among EU countries, according to figures published by Eurostat.

It said that, in 2014, the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy reached 16 per cent in the European Union, almost double that of 2004 (8.5 per cent), the first year for which the data is available.

The target to be reached by 2020 for the EU is a share of 20 per cent energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy.

However, renewables will continue to play a key role in helping the EU meet its energy needs beyond 2020. For this reason, member states have agreed on a new EU renewable energy target of at least 27 per cent by 2030.

Since 2004, the share of renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy grew significantly in all member states.

With more than half (52.6 per cent) of energy from renewable sources in its gross final consumption of energy, Sweden had by far in 2014 the highest share, ahead of Latvia and Finland (both 38.7 per cent), Austria (33.1 per cent) and Denmark (29.2 per cent).

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest proportions of renewables were registered in Luxembourg (4.5 per cent), Malta (4.7 per cent), the Netherlands (5.5 per cent) and the United Kingdom (seven per cent).