Malta is set to reach the EU’s renewable energy target for the first time this year, with three per cent of total consumption generated mainly from the sun.
The projection was made by the Energy Ministry, whose spokesman said a crucial factor in reaching the target was the government’s various schemes and feed-in tariffs intended to lure private industry and households to install photovoltaic panels.
Under a plan agreed with Brussels in 2009, Malta bound itself to gradually increase the share of renewable energy to 10 per cent by 2020. A number of interim targets were also set: two per cent by 2012, three per cent by 2014, 4.5 per cent by 2016 and 6.5 per cent by 2018.
The government believes that solar energy is more feasible
Up to 2005, the share of renewable energy in Malta was so low that it was statistically negligible. In 2012, the country still fell well below the target, with European Commission figures putting its output at a mere 1.4 per cent of the total.
However, provisional figures published last week by the National Statistics Office confirmed a spike in renewable energy between 2010 and last year. Whereas four years ago 1,731 megawatt hours were generated, by last year it had increased to 36,692, of which 83.7 per cent was produced from photovoltaic cells.
Still, there is a degree of scepticism about the claim of having reached the target. Renewable energy expert Edward Mallia said it needed to be viewed with caution, as successive administrations had not been forthcoming whenever asked to back claims on issues like pollution and energy.
“In this particular case the claim may be misleading, as we might saturate all the capacity to install photovoltaic panels well before 2020 and so fail to reach the 10 per cent target just the same,” Prof. Mallia said.
“I hope the government explains what has been achieved so far, and the prospects for the future, to be able to establish what is the maximum limit of renewable energy generation.”
A spokesman for the Energy Ministry said the ministry and planning authority were expected to publish a policy on solar farms soon.
The option of wind energy has now been discarded, with the government dropping plans for an offshore wind farm at Mellieħa following environmental objections raised by the planning authority.
The project had been launched by the Nationalist government in 2008 and was touted as Malta’s solution to meeting the EU 2020 target.
“The government believes that solar energy is more feasible considering the climatic conditions of Malta. Moreover, bio fuels and other clean energy sources will also contribute to government plans for clean energy,” the spokesman said.
A study by Mott MacDonald had found that all potential wind farm sites had issues. For this reason, plans made by the PN administration were based on “weak foundations”, the spokesman said.