Malta advocates an energy island in the Mediterranean

In Belgium, grid operator Elia will build an energy island for offshore wind energy in the North Sea. The small island state of Malta sees merit in that story and wants something similar in the Mediterranean. But then it needs help from Europe.

In the news: In an interview with news website Euractiv the Maltese Minister for Energy, Miriam Dalli, advocates an energy island.

• Malta gets 20 percent of its electricity from Italy. When gas prices rose on the European mainland, electricity on the island also became more expensive. And demand is only increasing: an interconnector in Sicily that can send 200 megawatts of power to Malta will be doubled by 2025.
• But, Dalli points out, “that is a third of our peak power demand. An outage means you have a 200 MW installation that is suddenly offline – then you have a problem.”
• Dalli wants to resolutely opt for renewable energy. Due to a lack of space in Malta, it is difficult to install many wind turbines or solar panels on land. So she is thinking in the direction of an offshore energy island on Malta, as the Belgian government also agreed to build in the North Sea. Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Island must produce 6 gigawatts of electricity by 2030. This comes with a hefty price tag: costs have already risen to more than 600 million euros.

Malta wants interconnection

To follow: Europe and neighboring countries must finance Malta’s energy island.

• The energy island in the North Sea is partly financed by the European Commission: it sets aside 99.7 million euros. In Dalli’s view, the same should be possible for her project in the Mediterranean. She speaks of “a financing problem” and the need for “further help”.
• The Commission believes that Malta must urgently work on renewable energy. According to the plans, the island will generate barely 11.5 percent of renewable energy in 2030. The EU proposes that 28 percent of Maltese energy should actually be renewable.
• Dalli wants to look further. “The future is interconnection,” she says. “Last year we brought together the MED9, the nine EU countries in the Mediterranean, and jointly agreed to make our region a green hub.”
• Dalli wants this hub to reach North Africa. “With Malta in the middle, we are analyzing the potential of a connection with North Africa because the opportunity is there. It is the same vision and ultimately it is one EU,” she once again asks the open question for more help.