Malta unfortunately has consistently lagged behind other European countries when it comes to renewable energy.

The country needed to purchase €2 million in energy credits from Estonia in order to make up for not reaching its renewable energy targets in 2020, while the levels are still not exceedingly high today.

Eurostat statistics show that in 2021, the lowest proportions of renewables were recorded in Luxembourg (11.7%), Malta (12.2%), the Netherlands (12.3%), Ireland (12.5%) and Belgium (13%).

The Energy Ministry this week however lauded the end of 2021 figure, saying that it exceeded the 11.5% 2030 target established in the country’s National Energy and Climate Plan.

Malta’s continued increase in electricity generation from renewable energy sources reaffirms the government’s commitment to continue supporting more green investments in this sector to achieve its decarbonisation objectives as soon as possible, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said.

In 2022, Malta registered a 221MW installed capacity of grid-connected photovoltaic systems, generating electricity to power more than 80,730 homes with clean energy.

This resulted in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by more than 134,700 tonnes. When compared to the previous year, this represents an improvement of 8.3%.

It is good to see that there is progress in the right direction when it comes to renewable energy.  Likewise, it was good to see the Med9 summit where an agreement was struck for talks to make the Mediterranean a clean energy hub be held in Malta.

That the share of energy coming from renewables is increasing is only a good thing: but now is the time for ambition. We cannot rest on our laurels and just say that we have reached our (quite low) renewable energy target for 2030 and stop there.

There are several ideas which can be taken up in order to further increase Malta’s renewable energy output, which certainly merit at least being investigated.

These range from what can be perceived as small, such as introducing solar-powered street lamps, for instance, to larger ones such as topping all public building with solar panels and having them power those buildings but then also feeding into the electricity grid as a whole.

Malta – and its 300 days of sunshine – could also certainly offer itself as a hub for innovation concerning solar energy innovation.  The climate is a perfect hotbed for pilot projects by private entrepreneurs and start-ups, and a similarly suitable economic climate can be created in order to facilitate this.

Focusing on increasing the energy generated from renewables will bring about cleaner air, the creation of green jobs, less reliability on outside sources for energy and, most importantly, be good for the environment.

The individual must also be empowered to invest in renewable energy sources.  This can come through strengthening financial grants and creating new ones in order to incentivise this investment.

An important – but sometimes neglected – part of this must also be the legal framework.  For example, the government would do well to look into legislating on a person’s solar rights.  Internal discussions were apparently being held in 2021, but nothing appears to have come out of them.

Introducing solar rights for individuals would offer homeowners guarantees that their solar investment will continue giving them dividends in the long-term.  As things stand, anyone can invest their money into solar panels, only for them to be lose sunlight access because of a block of apartments built next door at any point.

Such legislation would change how new developments are handled and approved – but really and truly, that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

It is the type of ambition which we need in order to improve our renewable energy output.