Understanding Malta’s energy and electricity crisis

I’m still trying to understand the details of Malta’s energy and electricity crisis, which left the country without power last year. The crisis re-emerged this year, but with many mitigating measures that, at face value, seem Third-Worldish. As a person who hasn’t studied engineering, I need the help of experts in addition to doing extensive reading myself, which I have been doing constantly over the past two days. There’s also a podcast by Jon Mallia with Enemalta’s CEO Ryan Fava coming out soon which I am eager to watch.

The Labour government seems to have published two very important documents about its energy and electricity policy. The first document I read is the Malta’s Preventive Action Plan. Gas Security of Supply. Version: March 2023. The document seems to state in page 14 that Malta risks not having enough electricity supply if electricity demand increases. Electricity demand has increased significantly along the years. I still need to understand some details given the technical nature of the document.

The other document seems to be the Malta Draft National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 which is less technical and reads like a political manifesto in favour of photo-voltaics and renewable energy. It also has a section about electric vehicles. The document is not a technical plan about energy security, neither does it have specific targets for energy imports and electricity generation. The document is mostly focused on explaining how Malta can transition away from fossil-fuels, but does not mention any risks about this transition.

Malta already has very low carbon emissions and the obsession to wane off our dependence from natural gas does not come from scientific or empirical goals, but rather from political and ideological reasons. Most carbon emissions don’t come from the generation of electricity from natural gas. There may be other reasons why there is this growing obsession with PVs given that it would appease local industrialists in this business. Clearly, and surely, the government is not looking at the electricity sector in terms of an ideological goal to use non-fossil fuels with a focus on PVs. The government doesn’t have a plan for efficient energy security and a safe electricity supply based on national security and economic considerations.