Malta

Overall assessment

Updated October 2023

In Subsidiary Legislation 545.35 Malta included provisions for renewable energy communities (RECs) and one reference to citizen energy communities (CECs), 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)). The provisions for CECs were introduced with Subsidiary legislation 545.34 (Electricity Regulations). For most part, these provisions are a copy paste from the EU Directives, without further elaboration of what each term means at the national level. Malta’s National Energy and Climate Plan (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 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. Despite the fact that in the previous NECP Malta rejected energy communities, in the draft version of the NECP 2021-2030 energy communities are referenced mentioning that the legal framework originally established for cooperatives also lends itself for RECs.

Detailed assessment

Criteria of EU definition reflected in national definition

For RECs:

  • Open and voluntary participation

  • Eligibility

  • Effective control (based on geographic proximity)

  • Autonomy

For CECs:

  • Open and voluntary participation

  • Eligibility

  • Effective control

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. However, the law that includes provisions for CECs defines control, which means rights, contracts or other means which, either separately or in combination and having regard to the considerations of fact or law involved, confer the possibility of exercising decisive influence on an undertaking, in particular by:

(a) ownership or the right to use all or part of the assets of an undertaking;

(b) rights or contracts which confer decisive influence on the composition, voting or decisions of the organs of an undertaking.

In Subsidiary Legislation 545.35 that introduces provisions on RECs there is a reference at article 24(1) specifying 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 reference it seems that there might be a confusion on the relationship between CECs and RECs.

Clearly defined purpose

Copy paste from EU provisions - The primary purpose of a REC or CEC 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.

Activities

For RECs:

The national legislation mentions that the regulatory framework shall ensure that RECs are entitled to:

  • produce, consume, store and sell renewable energy, including through renewables PPAs;
  • share, within the REC, renewable energy that is produced by the production units owned by that community, subject to the other requirements laid down in this regulation and to maintaining the rights and obligations of the REC members as customers;
  • access all suitable energy markets both directly or through aggregation in a non-discriminatory manner.

This is copy paste from the Directive - no further regulations are in place.

For CECs:

The law states that they may engage in generation, including from renewable sources, sharing within the community of that electricity that is produced by the production units owned by the CEC, distribution, supply, consumption, aggregation, energy storage, energy efficiency services or charging services for electric vehicles or provide other energy services to its members or shareholders. Also, it is mentioned that the Minister may decide to grant CECs the right to manage distribution networks in their area of operation and establish the relevant procedures. No further regulations are in place.

Citizen participation is ensured

No

Designated authority to oversee

No

Number of definitions

2 – RECs and CECs

Coherency between both definitions

n/a