Electricity consumption has increased this year after a two-year lull, as Malta’s hunger for energy shows no sign of abating.

Power consumption in the first six months this year showed an increase of 3.15 per cent over the same period last year,an Enemalta Corporation spokesman told The Sunday Times.

The increase, the energy supplier said, “appears to be due to increased economic activity”.

When higher utility rates and the economic crisis struck, consumption went down by 6.25 per cent in 2009 compared to 2008, where until then more and more power was being consumed.

Last year, the downward trend persisted, and consumption decreased by 2.5 per cent compared to the previous year.

Consumption, driven by business, is back up – albeit not to pre-2009 levels.

For instance, this year’s most power-hungry month, June, eked out 181,076 megawatt hours off the system, which is still less than the 198,817 generated in 2008.

But as Malta’s thirst for power shows little signs of going away, the country is looking towards renewable energy sources to sustain the demand.

The government is forking out millions in grants to households to invest in photovoltaic technology, yet visions of a solar powered Malta are still a long way ahead.

Last year, the country had a peak photovoltaic capacity of 5.8 megawatts – just 0.08 per cent of the total electricity produced.

However, the figures arelooking up.

There is currently a seven megawatt peak capacity registered with the Malta Resources Authority, with the figures set to rise after the government launched another PV scheme last week.

The target the National Renewable Energy Action Plan sets for 2020 is 28 megawatts, four times the current capacity.

It is envisaged that by 2020, PV panels will make up 0.7 per cent of the national energy demand (including heating and fuels) or 1.57 per cent of the projected electricity demand in 2020.

Although the target may look daunting, MRA CEO Anthony Rizzo said the take-up of PV panels has been accelerating.

“We are moving well in that direction, so it’s clear we’re going to reach our targets,” Mr Rizzo said.

Last Thursday, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority confirmed that three of the plants at the Marsa power station had exceeded the 20,000 operational hours they were permitted under a derogation Malta obtained when it joined the EU.

Marsa station will be completely shut down when the Delimara power station extension becomes operational and the interconnector cable with Sicily is completed in 2013.