Regulations, 2017

L.N. 263 of 2017

REGULATOR FOR ENERGY AND WATER SERVICES ACT

(CAP. 545)

Promotion of Energy from Renewable Sources (Amendment)

Regulations, 2017

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 37(1) of the

Regulator for Energy and Water Services Act, the Minister responsible

for Energy and Water Management, after consultation with the

Regulator for Energy and Water Services, has made the following

regulations

(1) The title of these regulations is the Promotion of Title and entry

Energy from Renewable Sources (Amendment) Regulations, 2017, into

and these regulations shall be read and construed as one with the

Promotion of Energy from Renewable Sources Regulations,

hereinafter referred to as "the principal regulations".

(2) These regulations transpose to Article 3(1), (4), (5) and

Article 6(1), (2) of Directive 2009/28/EC, as amended by Directive

(EU) 2015/1513.

(3) These regulations shall come into force on the 10

September 2017.

In regulation 3 of the principal regulations immediately Amends

after the words "renewable sources of 10%.", there shall be added the regulation

the principal

following new words

regulations.

"For the purpose of compliance with the aforesaid target,

the maximum joint contribution from biofuels and bioliquids

produced from cereal and other starch-rich crops, sugars and oil

crops and from crops grown as main crops primarily for energy

purposes on agricultural land shall be no more than the energy

quantity corresponding to the maximum contribution as set out

in paragraph (d) of regulation 4".

Regulation 4 of the principal regulations shall be amended Amends

regulation 4 of

as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a) paragraph (a) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(a) for the calculation of the denominator, that is

the total amount of energy consumed in transport for the

purposes of the share of energy from renewable sources in

all forms of transport in 2020, only petrol, diesel, biofuels

consumed in road and rail transport, and electricity,

including electricity used for the production of renewable

liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin,

shall be taken into account;";

(b) in paragraph (b) thereof, immediately after the words

"shall be taken into account" there shall be added the following

new words

".This paragraph shall be without prejudice to

paragraph (d) of this regulation and regulation 3(1)(a) of

the Biofuels (Sustainability Criteria) Regulations, 2010;";

(c) paragraph (c) thereof shall be substituted by the

following new paragraph

"(c) for the calculation of the contribution from

electricity produced from renewable sources and consumed

in all types of electric vehicles and for the production of

renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-

biological origin for the purpose of paragraphs (a) and (b),

the Minister may choose to use either the average share of

electricity from renewable energy sources in the Union or

the share of electricity from renewable energy sources in

Malta as measured two years before the year in question.

Furthermore, for the calculation of the electricity from

renewable energy sources consumed by electrified rail

transport, that consumption shall be considered to be 2,5

times the energy content of the input of electricity from

renewable energy sources. For the calculation of the

electricity from renewable energy sources consumed by

electric road vehicles in paragraph (b), that consumption

shall be considered to be five times the energy content of

the input of electricity from renewable energy sources.";

(d) immediately after paragraph (c) as amended, there

shall be added the following new paragraphs

"(d) for the calculation of biofuels in the numerator,

the share of energy from biofuels produced from cereal and

other starch-rich crops, sugars and oil crops and from crops

grown as main crops primarily for energy purposes on

agricultural land shall be no more than 7 % of the final

consumption of energy in transport in Malta in 2020

Provided that, biofuels produced from feedstocks

listed in part H and Part I of the Schedule to the Biofuels

(Sustainability Criteria) Regulations shall not count S.L. 545.28.

towards the aforesaid limit

Provided further that the Minister may decide that the

share of energy from biofuels produced from crops grown

as main crops primarily for energy purposes on agricultural

land, other than cereal and other starch-rich crops, sugars

and oil crops, shall not count towards the aforesaid limit

Provided also that

(i) verification of compliance with the S.L. 545.28.

sustainability criteria set out in sub-regulations (2) to

(5) of regulation 3 of the Biofuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations, 2010 was carried out in

accordance with regulation 4 of the aforesaid

regulation; and

(ii) those crops which were grown on land

that falls under item 8 of part C of the Schedule to the

Biofuels (Sustainability Criteria) Regulations and the S.L.545.28.

corresponding bonus "eB" set out in item 7 of part C

of the Schedule to the aforementioned regulations

was included in the calculation of greenhouse gas

emissions, for the purposes of showing compliance

with regulation 3(2) of the Biofuels (Sustainability S.L.545.28.

Criteria) Regulations;

(e) the Minister shall seek to achieve the objective

of there being a minimum level of consumption in Malta of

biofuels produced from feedstocks and of other fuels, listed

in part H of the Schedule to the Biofuels (Sustainability S.L. 545.28.

Criteria) Regulations. To that effect, a reference value for

the national target is set at 0,5 percentage points in energy

content of the share of energy from renewable sources in all

forms of transport in 2020 referred to in paragraph (a), to

be met with biofuels produced from feedstocks and with

other fuels, listed in part H of the Schedule to the Biofuels S.L.545.28.

(Sustainability Criteria) Regulations. In addition, biofuels

made from feedstocks not listed in part H and Part I of the

aforesaid regulations that were determined to be wastes,

residues, non-food cellulosic material or ligno-cellulosic

material by the competent national authorities and are used

in existing installations prior to the adoption of Directive

(EU) 2015/1513 of the European Parliament and of the

Council, may be counted towards the national target.

The Minister may set a national target lower than the

reference value of 0,5 percentage points, based on one or

more of the following grounds

(i) objective factors such as the limited

potential for the sustainable production of biofuels

produced from feedstocks and of other fuels, listed in

part H of the Schedule to the Biofuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations, or the limited availability of

such biofuels at cost-efficient prices on the market;

(ii) the specific technical or climatic

characteristics of the national market for transport

fuels, such as the composition and condition of the

road vehicle fleet; or

(iii)

national

policies

allocating

commensurate financial resources to incentivising

energy efficiency and the use of electricity from

renewable energy sources in transport.

The Minister shall review the target by 1 July 2019

taking into consideration the market forces listed in

paragraphs (i) to (iii).

When setting Malta’s national targets, the Minister

shall provide available information on the quantities of

biofuels consumed from feedstocks and other fuels, listed

in part H of the Schedule to the Biofuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations.

When setting policies for the promotion of the

production of fuels from feedstocks listed in part H and

Part I of the Schedule to the Biofuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations, the Minister shall have due regard to

the waste hierarchy as established in Article 4 of Directive

2008/98/EC, including its provisions regarding life-cycle

thinking on the overall impacts of the generation and

management of different waste streams.

(f) biofuels produced from feedstocks listed in Part

H and Part I of the Schedule to the Biofuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations shall be considered to be twice their

energy content for the purpose of complying with the target

set out in regulation 4.".

Immediately after regulation 4 of the principal regulations Adds new

regulation 4A to

as amended, there shall be added the following new regulation

the principal

regulations.

With a view to minimising the risk of single

consignments being claimed more than once in the

Union, the Minister shall endeavour to strengthen

cooperation among national systems and between

national systems and voluntary schemes established

pursuant to regulation 4 of the Biofuels (Sustainability

Criteria) Regulations, including where appropriate the

exchange of data. To prevent materials from being

intentionally modified or discarded in order to fall

under Part H and Part I of the Schedule to the Biofuels

(Sustainability Criteria) Regulations, the Minister

shall encourage the development and use of systems

which track and trace feedstocks and the resulting

biofuels over the whole value chain. The Agency shall

ensure that when fraud is detected, appropriate action

is taken. The Minister shall by the 31 st December

2017, and every two years thereafter, report to the

Commission on the measures taken if they have not

provided equivalent information on reliability and

protection against fraud in the reports on progress in

the promotion and use of energy from renewable

sources drawn up in accordance with Article 22(1)(d)

of Directive 2009/28/EC.".

In regulation 10 of the principal regulations, sub- Amends

regulations (1) and (2) shall be substituted by the following new sub- regulation

the principal

regulations.

"(1) The Agency may recommend to the Minister to make

arrangements for the statistical transfer of a specified amount of

energy from renewable sources from Malta to another Member

State , or from another Member State to Malta, as the case may

be. The transferred quantity shall be

(a) deducted from the amount of energy from

renewable sources that is taken into account in measuring

compliance by the Member State making the transfer with

the requirements of regulation 3, regulation 4 and

regulation 9; and

(b) added to the amount of energy from renewable

sources that is taken into account in measuring compliance

by another Member State accepting the transfer with the

requirements of regulation 3 and regulation 9.

(2) The arrangements referred to in sub-regulation (1) of

this regulation in respect of regulation 3, regulation 4 and

regulation 9 may have a duration of one or more years. They

shall be notified by the Minister to the Commission not later than

three months after the end of each year in which they have effect.

The information sent to the Commission shall include the

quantity and price of the energy involved."

€0.54