Energy in Malta

As of 2017, most of the electricity generated in Malta was from natural gas, with oil as a backup. Renewable energies have a small but growing share of the electricity generation mix. Malta has four electricity plants operational and the total combined nominal installed capacity is 537.8 MW. The Malta–Sicily Interconnector, which has been in operation since April 2015, allows for an electricity link between the Maltese Islands and the Italian electricity market has bidirectional flow capacity of 200 MW. This is said to have increased Malta's energy security and supply flexibility. Malta has some of the lowest household electricity prices in the EU. In 2018, the average household electricity price was 0.1306 EUR/kWh, only higher than those in Hungary, Lithuania and Bulgaria. ==Renewable energy==

As of 2017, renewables represented 4.9% of gross inland energy consumption and 6.6% of gross electricity generation in Malta, some of the lowest shares in the European Union. concerns over the loss of limited countryside land as well as potential visual pollution of both onshore and offshore projects present a significant challenge. As renewable energy projects can affect the appearance of coastlines, rural landscapes and Malta's historic towns and villages, they have also come into conflict with the country's important tourism sector. The National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Malta was submitted in July 2010. According to the NREAP, Malta's renewable energy mix in 2020 was intended to be: • Transport: 37 ktoe • Wind: 0.3 TWh or 22 ktoe • Biomass: 0.1 TWh or 12 ktoe • Wind power: 15 MW onshore and 95 MW offshore • Solar: 28 MW photovoltaic and 3 ktoe thermal. • Electricity: 86 GWh (7 ktoe) from solid biomass and 50 GWh (4 ktoe) from biogas. • Heat: 0 ktoe from solid biomass and 2 ktoe from biogas. Wind power According to the EU fact sheet in January 2007 the potential of wind energy in Malta is substantial. In 2010 the investment subsidy of 25% was available for private consumers for wind power up to 3.7 kW (urban wind turbines). Excess electricity fed into the grid was purchased at EUR 0.07 per kWh. Large-scale offshore wind projects have been considered in Malta, yet have so far not been realised. Unofficial consultations were held before 2013, yet were said to have ended following a change of government in that year. Current wind power generation in Malta remains very low. Solar power of Malta Power generation from photovoltaic (PV) solar cells is increasing in Malta, with total kWp (kilowatt peak) capacity growing by 16.9% from 2017 to 2018. Domestic rooftop installations account for the overwhelming majority of PV installations, and hold 52.1% of total kWp capacity. As of December 2019, EU-funded government grants allowed households to reclaim 50% of the installation costs up to a value of €2,300 from the government. Grants for rooftop solar water heaters, which are popular in Malta, as well as solar feed-in tariffs are also available to help people consider the installation of solar panels. In October 2017, the Planning Authority approved the 'Solar Farm Policy', aimed at providing appropriate criteria for potential future utility-scale solar farm developments with minimal negative impacts on the landscape, particularly targeting disused quarries, car parks, industrial areas and large rooftops. Since then, multiple utility-scale solar farms been proposed to the planning authority. An 8,000 panel site has been approved at a disused landfill site near Birżebbuġa in February 2019. A 2018 pilot project led by MCAST was conducted to investigate the potential of floating off-shore solar farms to provide energy for Malta. Biogas power As part of organic waste treatment, Malta's waste management company Wasteserv uses the country's organic waste in an anaerobic digester plant to generate biogas for electricity production. So far this has reached a capacity of 2.58GWh of electricity in 2021 ==See also==