EU Tracker – Local heating and cooling planning in Malta
Summary
What is the status of the transposition of Art 25.6(EDD) and its implementation ??
Malta is not ready to implement EED article 25.6. New legislation and support mechanisms will be needed.
As Malta’s energy policy falls under the obligation of the central government, no obligation exist for its municipalities to draft heating and cooling plans or other energy-related plans. The EED article 25.6 provision will likely target the Regional council level, as no Maltese municipality reach the population threshold of 45 000 inhabitants stated in the directive. Moreover, Malta has Europe’s highest degree of centralisation for energy transition related expenditure. The assessment and rating below should of these reasons be interpreted with some caution.
Developing detailed strategic plans for heating and cooling, in line with the provisions of EED article 25.6, should nevertheless be a highly prioritised objective in Malta. Especially given its high share of fossil energy sources used for heating and cooling, high energy import dependency and capacity constraints in its grid infrastructure, which has caused recurrent power outages during periods of surging cooling demand. These plans should preferably developed at the Regional council level and be aligned with a more ambitious national strategy for heating and cooling and spatial planning.
Detailed assessment
The legal framework and the obligations
No regulatory framework for heating and cooling planning at the local or regional council level
Overview of the legal frameworks per governance level
| National | In Malta, energy-related policies are mainly coordinated at the national level. There is no existing incentive or obligation for Maltese municipalities to draft heating and cooling plans as such, and heating and cooling is not covered in existing plans. Local authorities’ competence is restricted to ensuring more efficient use of energy for their own premises. Malta’s overall energy and climate policy is defined in its 2030 National energy and climate plan (NECP) submitted in 2019, which establishes a mimimun renewable energy share target of 33.06 % to 2030. The Maltese government submitted a report on the potential for efficient heating and cooling to the European Commission in 2020. The objectives, strategies and policy measures presented in the assessment report were largely based on the NECP. The strategies emphasise the deployment of solar and heat pumps to increase the RES share in the heating and cooling sectors, and to target energy efficiency and savings. District heating and cooling systems are deemed non-viable from a technical and cost-efficiency perspective. Using spatial energy planning as a tool to improve energy efficiency and the use of reneable energy in the heating and cooling sector, coordinated either nationally or locally, has not been addressed in these documents. |
The support framework
A non-existing technical and financial support framework and lack of human resources to prepare local heating and cooling plans
There is no support framework in place for Maltese municipalities to decarbonize the heating and cooling sector as Maltese municipalities have very limited competencies in the energy sector and small administrations without the necessary expertise.
Provided Support
| Technical and organisational | 1/5 | There is no technical guidance on local heating and cooling planning available. |
| Financial | 1/5 | There is no fund dedicated to local strategic energy planning. Municipalities may apply for nationally coordinated EU funds dedicated to projects on Energy Efficiency and Renewable energy. |
| Staff & skills | 1/5 | Municipal administrations are often very small and would not have the skills to develop local heating and cooling plans or other energy-related planning documents. |
| Access to data | 1/5 | Municipalities lack readily available energy-related geodata needed for detailed heating and cooling plans |
