Malta

Overall assesment

In Subsidiary Legislation 545.35 Malta included some provisions for renewable energy communities and one reference to citizen energy communities, specifying that this regulation shall apply without prejudice to Malta’s right to exercise the derogations granted pursuant to Article 66 of Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU (recast)(article 24(8)). For most part, these provisions are a copy paste from the Renewables Directive, without further elaboration of what each term means at the national level. Malta’s NECP explicitly rejects the development of energy communities, which it attributes to the lack of a market (i.e. a monopoly) for supply of energy. Although Malta’s energy system benefits from regulatory exemptions, those do not cover the development of energy communities. Supply monopoly aside, Malta envisions self-consumption, which could be undertaken through participation in an energy community. Furthermore, many renewable energy communities in other Member States engage in production without engaging in supply, energy efficiency measures, and other services that need not interfere with Malta’s monopoly.

Detailed assesment

Criteria of EU definition reflected in national definition

For RECs:

  • Open and voluntary participation
  • Eligibility
  • Effective control (based on geographic proximity)
  • Autonomy

There is no legislation available for CECs.

Level of detail in the elaboration of principles contained in EU criteria

There is no elaboration of what these terms mean in the context of Malta. There are no provisions on CECs, except for a reference at article 24(1) that the regulatory framework for citizen energy communities envisaged by regulation 13 of the Electricity Regulations shall ensure that final customers, in particular household customers, are entitled to participate in a renewable energy community while maintaining their rights or obligations as final customers, and without being subject to unjustified or discriminatory conditions or procedures that would prevent their participation in a renewable energy community, provided that for private undertakings, their participation does not constitute their primary commercial or professional activity. From this one reference it seems that it is not clear if CECs exist separately from RECs, or what is the relationship between them.

Clearly defined purpose

Copy paste from EU provisions - The primary purpose of a REC is to provide environmental, economic or social community benefits for its shareholders or members or for the local areas where it operates, rather than financial profits.

ICA cooperative governance principles reflected

To the level reflected in the EU provisions.

Legal entities allowed

Not specified.

Citizen participation is ensured

No

Designated authority to oversee

No

Number of definitions

1 (RECs) with one reference to CECs

Coherency between both definitions

n/a