Malta profile

Overview

Malta has continued to experience remarkable population and economic growth; in 2023, GDP (at constant prices) was 24% higher than 2019 level. Concurrently, Total Energy Supply and final energy consumption (FEC) registered an increase of 8% and 9% respectively from 2019. FEC sectoral breakdown has largely remained the same, with road transport consuming the largest portion of energy (41% in 2023), followed by the tertiary and the residential sectors (22% and 19% respectively). Energy consumption in the road transport sector is attributed to high private vehicle dependency; despite being complemented by free public transport and cycling. Increase in standard of living conditions has also contributed to further energy consumption increases. 

General energy efficiency has improved by 0.7% annually since 2019. This acceleration was largely driven by the services sector, which saw a significant post-2019 improvement rate of 2% per year. Conversely, household efficiency had consistent annual improvement throughout 2006–2023 at an improvement rate of 0.7% per year since 2019.

Data from the Odyssee Database illustrates that energy savings in the services and residential sectors reached a total of 0.1198 Mtoe by 2023. Within the services sector, average annual savings nearly doubled between 2019-2023, increasing to 0.053Mtoe/year compared to the 0.029Mtoe/year observed between 2012-2018. The residential sector also increased energy savings from 0.035 Mtoe/year between 2005-2011 to 0.052 Mtoe/year between 2012-2019. An additional increase in the energy savings during the period between 2019-2023 reaching a peak of 0.058 Mtoe/year. 

Figure 4 shows that the total energy supplied decreased from 0.837Mtoe in 2010 to 0.657Mtoe in 2023, despite an increase in economic and population growth. This is mainly due to a change in the fuel used for transformation input from heavy fuel oil to Liquified Natural gas and the installation of the electricity interconnector, together with an increase in the share of electricity generation using Renewable energy sources (mainly photovoltaics). 

Past efforts to improve the country’s energy efficiency and renewable energy mix are bolstered through Malta’s National Energy and Climate Plan (2021-2030), which includes both the extension and implementation of new policy measures. These include additional energy efficiency measures promoting sustainable growth, and efforts to keep a stable energy demand considering increasing socio-economic pressures, notably population and economic growth. 

Buildings

FEC grew significantly between 2010 and 2023, with the Services sector rising 40% and the Residential sector increasing 68%. The substantial 68% rise in residential FEC is primarily attributed to demographic trends, which include a corresponding 50% increase in the number of households over the period. Conversely, the 40% FEC increase in the Services sector is strongly linked the nearly 150% growth in GVA at constant prices, alongside specific subsector indicators like the number of bed nights in the accommodation sector, which significantly contributed to the overall consumption increase. 

While consumption increased across all residential end-uses, the most significant growth between 2010 and 2023 occurred in air conditioning (6.7%) and household appliances (3.7%) evolution in shares. This trend is primarily driven by the rising number of households and an increased demand for thermal comfort, specifically in space cooling.

Figure 7 shows a total annual evolution of 2.4% increase in energy consumption per dwelling (excluding space heating) in 2023 compared to 2010. This increase in energy consumption per dwelling is mainly due to an increase in energy consumption for cooling within each household, which reflects the higher thermal comfort expected compared to 2010. On the other hand, the energy consumption for Water Heating and Cooking end-uses per dwelling decreased by 4.4% and 6.3%, in shares, which can be attributed to improved energy efficiency technologies being purchased by households. Also, to note that the energy consumption per dwelling decreased by 2.5% in 2023 compared to 2019.

Figure 8 illustrates the increase in the electricity consumption per dwelling by end-use with climatic corrections, which are mainly due to an improved thermal comfort expected such as use of air-to-air heat pumps in the residential sector.  

FEC in households reached 0.114 Mtoe in 2023, marking a 65% increase compared to 2010. The primary driver of this growth was a 50% increase in the number of dwellings, which resulted in an increase of 0.0379 Mtoe. This increase was significantly countered by energy savings (0.02 Mtoe) and, to a lesser extent, by climatic effects (0.0032 Mtoe).

In 2023, Space Heating increased by 35% (0.0033) Mtoe of the FEC in households. Although the effect of climate and energy savings attributed to reduce the energy demand, increase in space heating consumption resulted due to an increase in the number of dwellings 60%. Space heating consumption is mainly achieved using reversible air-to-air heat pumps, especially in new dwellings.

Climate-corrected total energy consumption per employee decreased by 2.8% in 2023 compared to 2010 levels. During the same period, electricity consumption also decreased by 2%. Excluding 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic impact, this follows a consistent downward trend from 2014. In 2023, total energy consumption per employee decreased by 2.7% compared to 2022 whilst electricity consumption remained constant even if GVA at constant prices increased by 31%. 

As mentioned in the Overview section, Malta’s National Energy and Climate Plan (2021-2030) includes both existing as well as new energy efficiency measures to achieve energy savings in the end-use sectors. For the Residential, Industry and Services sectors in particular, the Government has proposed numerous measures to promote the shift towards renewable technologies and other energy efficient technologies. One such example is the Electricity Tariff Structure and Eco-Reduction measure which aims to incentivize end-users to reduce consumption below an established threshold and deter high consumption by increasing unit cost as consumption increases through a rising block tariff structure.

Transport

The transport sector remains Malta's highest energy consumer, accounting for 42% of the total sectoral FEC in 2023. This consumption totaled 0.27 Mtoe, which results in an annual increase of 2.8% compared to 2010. Road transport makes up 90% of the transport sector, with passenger cars utilizing 0.14 Mtoe. 

Figure 13 below illustrates that the modal split throughout the whole period remained constant despite measures such as free public transport.

Figure 14 shows that the energy consumption of cars per passenger increased slightly by 0.5% in 2023 compared to 2010. This may be due to an increase in longer waiting times due to road congestion compared to 2010 and therefore increase in fuel consumption.

While Malta’s dependency on private car use is high, efforts are being made to further encourage modal shift. Measures to encourage modal shift include the promotion of remote work, and the provision of free public transport and free school transport for primary and secondary school children, among others. Besides promoting modal shift, the Government is committed towards electrifying its vehicle fleet to improve vehicle efficiency and reduce overall emissions. Electrification of transport is also being encouraged through grants for the purchase of private electric vehicles and the deployment of public charging infrastructure. 

Industry

The industry sector increased its FEC by 4.2% in 2023 when compared to 2010, while the GVA at constant prices increased by 38%. All branches in the industry sector increased significantly compared to 2010, with “Other branches”, which includes the Construction branch, consuming 77% of the total FEC of the industry sector in 2023.  

Figure 16 illustrates a decrease in Energy intensity for both manufacturing and industry sectors in 2023 compared to 2007, with the manufacturing sector achieving a 28% decrease compared to the industry sector’s 13% decrease. The manufacturing sector indicates improved energy efficiency driven by an 11% reduction in energy consumption alongside GVA growth. On the other hand, the broader industry sector (which includes construction) decreased its intensity despite increasing its energy consumption by 31% over the same period, mainly to a greater increase in GVA.

Malta's energy efficiency strategy targets both large and small enterprises. Large companies are obliged to perform a comprehensive energy audit every four years. Conversely, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) benefit from projects such as ‘Investing in Energy’ and EcoSMEnergy, which assist them in becoming more sustainable. Furthermore, SMEs can access grants through the Energy Audit Scheme to cover the costs of performing a voluntary energy audit.