Malta's renewable share rose from under 3% in 2013 to 17.2% in 2024.
Documentary fact. Eurostat's harmonised series and the Energy and Water Agency (EWA) confirm Malta's renewable share in gross final energy consumption rose from 3.6% in 2013 to 17.2% in 2024 — a 4.8× increase. Malta started from one of the lowest renewable shares in the EU and posted some of the largest annual increases of any EU member state in recent years. Confirmation: EWA December 2025 disclosure plus Eurostat nrg_ind_ren series.
Documentary fact. Eurostat's harmonised series and the Energy and Water Agency (EWA) confirm Malta's renewable share in gross final energy consumption rose from 3.6% in 2013 to 17.2% in 2024 — a 4.8× increase. Malta started from one of the lowest renewable shares in the EU and posted some of the largest annual increases of any EU member state in recent years. Confirmation: EWA December 2025 disclosure plus Eurostat nrg_ind_ren series.
We tested Dalli's claim against (1) Eurostat 'Share of energy from renewable sources' series (nrg_ind_ren), (2) Energy and Water Agency December 2025 disclosure, (3) the EU Renewable Energy Directive III implementation reporting, and (4) Maltese National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) progress reports.
True. The Energy and Water Agency (EWA) confirmed in December 2025 that Malta's renewable energy share reached 17.2% in 2024 — almost two percentage points up on 2023, and more than triples the 2014 level. Eurostat's harmonised series (using gross final energy consumption as the denominator, including transport, heat and electricity) records the same headline figures. Malta started from one of the lowest renewable shares in the EU (3.6% in 2013, under 3% in 2010) and posted some of the largest annual increases of any EU member state in recent years. The 4.8× growth in renewable share is real and well-documented. Limitations: 'renewable share' includes statistical transfers (purchasing renewable production from other EU member states), which inflates the headline figure relative to physically generated renewables in Malta. The dominant driver of growth is rooftop PV — Malta now has the second-highest installed solar capacity per capita in the EU.
Did Malta's renewable energy share really grow from under 3% in 2013 to 17.2% today
Both Dalli and Abela cited the same statistic at the press conference. Dalli: 'minn anqas minn tlieta fil-mija fl-2013, illum tlajna għal sbatax punt tnejn fil-mija.' Abela: 'tlaqna ġenerazzjoni mir-rinovabbli miżera ta' tlieta fil-mija. Illum… skorrejna bi ftit isba' għax fil-mija.' Both have the receipts.
The official figures
Eurostat publishes the EU-harmonised series for renewable share in gross final energy consumption. The Maltese trajectory:
From 3.6% in 2013 to 17.2% in 2024 — a 4.8× increase across the legislature. EWA's December 2025 release confirms the 17.2% figure and notes Malta has now more than tripled its renewable share over the decade.
How does that compare with the rest of the EU?
Malta started from one of the lowest renewable shares in the EU and has been one of the fastest movers in absolute pace of increase in recent years. Per the EEA's 2024-25 update, only four EU countries recorded larger annual increases than Malta in the most recent reading: Latvia (+2.3pp), Netherlands (+2.6pp), Denmark (+3.0pp), Lithuania (+3.5pp). Malta's increase was just below those, at +1.8pp YoY.
But Malta still sits well below the EU average renewable share (~24% in 2024) and well below leaders like Sweden (~66%), Finland (~50%), and Denmark (~45%). The 17.2% figure is genuine progress; Malta is still in the bottom quartile in absolute terms.
What's driving the growth
Three sub-trends explain the rise:
- Solar PV — From near-zero installed in 2013 to ~250 MW AC by end-2024. Domestic and commercial rooftop deployment driven by grants, feed-in tariffs and net-billing.
- Imports of renewable electricity via the interconnector — Some of Malta's 'renewable share' is renewable electricity imported from the Italian grid, which has a higher renewable mix than Malta's domestic generation.
- Heat-pump and electric-vehicle penetration — Shifting consumption away from oil-derived heat and transport fuel into electricity (which is partly renewable-sourced) raises the calculated 'renewable share'.
On the EU 2030 target
Malta's binding EU 2030 renewable-share target is 11.5% — already surpassed in 2022 with 12.6%. Malta is one of a handful of EU member states currently above its 2030 target ahead of schedule. Newer aspirational benchmarks (REPowerEU, Fit for 55) sit at 24% by 2030; Malta is still below that.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes. The 3% (2013) → 17.2% (2024) is documentary fact, confirmed by both EWA and Eurostat. Malta has tripled its renewable share over the legislature and is one of the EU's faster movers in pace of increase, even as the absolute share remains below EU average.
Verdict: True.