Malta

Overall assessment

On 26 April 2023, Malta submitted a modified recovery and resilience plan, including an REPowerEU chapter in accordance with Article 21c of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, to the Commission. There is no reference to energy communities. The REPowerEU chapter includes one new reform and one new investment. The reform aims to accelerate the permit-granting procedures for renewable energy projects and introduce the obligation to install rooftop solar panels on certain new buildings, thereby creating conditions for increasing the share of renewables in Malta’s energy mix. The investment aims to strengthen and widen the electricity distribution network through investments in the grid, distribution services and battery storage. The investment is expected to address internal electricity transmission distribution bottlenecks and facilitate the integration of renewable energy. In conjunction with other energy policy measures in Malta, such as energy subsidies, the REPowerEU chapter contributes to addressing energy poverty by lessening the dependence on imported fossil fuels by supporting indigenous energy sources and strengthening energy infrastructure.

There was a public consultation period, which is mandatory by law, in which certain non-governmental organisations did submit feedback including requesting support for renewable energy communities, but there was no official response on if/how the comments were processed. Local non-governmental organisation report this to be a common occurrence in such public consultation exercises, which are ultimately treated as box ticking exercise, with no real stakeholder consultation or opportunity to be involved in the drafting of the policy.