Malta is last in Europe for renewable energy according to Eurostat.
Eurostat confirms Malta is bottom of the EU table for renewable electricity (16.6% in Q3 2025). True — but Malta's overall renewable share has more than tripled in a decade (5.4% → 17.2%) and the country is meaningfully closer to its 2030 targets today than at any prior point. The 'last in Europe' line is accurate; it elides the trajectory.
Eurostat confirms Malta is bottom of the EU table for renewable electricity (16.6% in Q3 2025). True — but Malta's overall renewable share has more than tripled in a decade (5.4% → 17.2%) and the country is meaningfully closer to its 2030 targets today than at any prior point. The 'last in Europe' line is accurate; it elides the trajectory.
The headline ranking is correct. In Q3 2025 the lowest shares of renewables in electricity across the EU were recorded in Malta (16.6%), Czechia (19.7%) and Slovakia (21.1%). In 2024 the highest fossil-fuel share in EU electricity production was Malta's (85%). What Sammut's framing leaves out is the trajectory: Malta's overall renewable share has more than tripled in a decade, from around 5.4% in 2014 to 17.2% in 2024 — the largest proportional gain in heating and cooling renewables in the EU between 2023 and 2024. The country is closer to its 2030 targets today than at any earlier point, with IC2 commissioning in 2026, IC3 announced, a 300MW offshore wind project in the pipeline, and battery storage advancing. Last in Europe — yes; trend going the right direction — also yes. True but lacks context.
Is Malta really last in Europe for renewable energy
Sammut's claim is supported by the published Eurostat ranking — Malta does sit at the bottom of the EU renewable-electricity league table. But the framing collapses two distinct metrics into a single 'last' and leaves out the trajectory. The 'last in Europe' rank applies to renewable share of electricity; on overall renewable share of final energy consumption Malta has more than tripled in a decade. Both can be true at once. The interesting question is whether the structural reasons for the historical gap (no hydropower, limited land, deep seas) are being matched by the pace of the build-out now.
Where Malta sits — renewable electricity share Q3 2025
Where Malta has moved fastest — overall renewable share
Two contrasting Maltese statistics, both true at once: last in EU for renewable electricity (16.6% in Q3 2025), and more than tripled overall renewable share across the decade (5.4% → 17.2%). The Eurostat 2024 release specifically noted Malta as recording the largest single-year increase in heating-and-cooling renewables in the EU (+6pp 2023→2024).
What's behind the gap
Three structural constraints explain part of Malta's historical lag and most of why even the project pipeline won't push the renewable-electricity share to top quartile:
- No hydropower. Sweden (50%+ of mix), Austria (60%+), Norway (95%+) all have hydropower as their renewable backbone. Malta has no rivers and no significant elevation differential.
- Limited land for utility-scale renewables. Malta is 316 km² with population density ~1,800/km² (one of the EU's highest). Land for utility-scale onshore wind or ground-mounted solar is structurally scarce.
- Sea depth limits fixed offshore wind. Maltese territorial waters reach 80m+ depths quickly. Fixed-foundation offshore wind isn't viable. Floating wind (the technology behind the 280-320 MW EEZ project) only became commercially viable in the last few years.
Add structural electricity-demand growth (Maltese population 428k → 574k since 2013; tourist headcount ~35k → 63k/day; WFH-era residential consumption up) and the renewable share has been growing against a rising denominator. The percentage trails the absolute capacity build.
The trajectory — what the pipeline adds
| Project | Capacity | Commissioning | Renewable impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| IC2 — second Malta-Sicily interconnector | 225 MW HVAC | 2026 → Q1 2027 full op | Italian-grid mix imports (~40%+ renewable) |
| IC3 — third interconnector | 200-400 MW | Announced May 2026 | Sicily 380 kV grid + bidirectional |
| Offshore wind (EEZ) | 280-320 MW floating | PQQ Jul 2025 → late 2020s | Domestic renewable generation |
| Domestic battery storage | ~4,000 installations | Operational | Shifts existing solar yield to evening peak |
| Utility-scale storage | TBD | Planning | Same mechanism at grid scale |
So is the claim accurate?
Yes — Malta is at the bottom of the EU renewable-electricity table at 16.6% (Q3 2025), with the highest fossil-fuel share in EU electricity production at 85% (2024). The framing is documentary fact. The context the headline elides: Malta's overall renewable share has more than tripled across the decade, the EU 2030 binding target was surpassed in 2022, and the announced project pipeline (IC2, IC3, offshore wind, batteries) materially changes the medium-term trajectory.
Verdict: True but lacks context.