Electricity imported over the interconnector surpassed that produced by the power stations for eight straight months last year, official figures show.

The interconnector that links Malta’s energy grid with that in Sicily was commissioned in April last year and from May onwards was responsible for supplying the bulk of electricity.

According to the National Statistics Office, between May and December the interconnector supplied almost 989,000 megawatt-hours as opposed to 579,000 megawatt-hours produced by the power stations.

The interconnector was not operational in January and February and was only in testing mode in March and April. This is why the overall figure for 2015 showed that the power stations produced more electricity than the interconnector.

The interconnector made it possible to close down the heavily-polluting Marsa power station

The interconnector made it possible to close down the heavily-polluting Marsa power station, as the country became less dependent on power plants for its energy needs.

The shift to the interconnector led to a reduction of 47 per cent in carbon dioxide emissions from power station operations. This was the single largest drop in CO2 emissions ever recorded. However, the situation was also helped by the increase in energy generated from clean renewable sources.

Renewable energy jumped up by 37 per cent, primarily driven by an increase in solar panels.

Green energy generated 104,000 megawatt-hours of electricity.

Photovoltaic cells accounted for 95,000 megawatt-hours while other sources supplied the electricity grid with 9,000 megawatt-hours.

The NSO figures show that the average maximum demand last year was the highest since 2008 at 351 megawatts. August registered the highest peak demand at 426MW while May saw the lowest peak demand at 295MW.

Approximately a third of electricity generated in a year is used between July and September, when switching on the air-conditioning unit to beat the summer heat is a must.