The EU's Clean Energy strategy for islands: A policy perspective on Malta's spatial governance in energy transition

Abstract

The European Union has more than 2200 inhabited islands. Many keep relying on fossil fuel-based energy systems, even though they are endowed with renewable energy resources (RES) and have access to gradually improving renewable energy technologies. In May 2017 the EU Commission and 14 member states with island territories signed the so-called “Valletta Declaration” in Malta's capital. The declaration states that islands can be favorable for innovative solutions and investments in local renewable energy production, given the abundance of various RES. However, the island nation of Malta features very low renewable energy shares within the EU. The Energy transition theory in the field of sustainable transition studies explains social and technological system-wide evolution and innovation, but only few scholars have focused on spatial governance in islands’ energy transition. Malta's urbanization rate is about 95%, which creates a spatially extreme situation. The policy perspective clarifies the role of spatial governance in Malta's energy transition from a fossil fuel-based to a non-fossil fuel-based country. A theoretical spatial governance framework guides the analysis. The perspective highlights that Malta's centralized and hierarchical spatial governance structure creates an environment, in which the spatial situation is used to argue against small and de-centralized renewable technologies.