On 31 August 2023, the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Enterprise of Malta published the National Policy for the Deployment of Offshore Renewable Energy. This is Malta's first national policy on offshore renewable energy. The policy plans to build the country's first floating renewable energy power plant within 12 to 25 nautical miles of the Maltese coast, and six sites have been selected as potential areas for floating power stations.

With the introduction of this policy, the Maltese government is laying the groundwork for a foray into new areas of renewable energy. Although Malta has a limited land area of only 316 square kilometers, the country has a potential exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of over 70,000 square kilometers, far exceeding its land area, due to its strategic geographical location in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. The Government of Malta will conduct a public consultation on the National Policy on Offshore Renewable Energy from 31 August to 30 September, after which it will assess public feedback and solicit expressions of interest from an international range to determine the shortlist of bids, and will ask shortlisted bidders to submit their proposals. Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said the policy was aimed at providing clean, affordable energy. Daly said the interests of consumers were always at the heart and believed such investments would create jobs.

At present, most of Malta's energy comes from fossil fuels, with only 10% coming from renewable sources. The six zones delineated at sea were identified after initial consultations with stakeholders. Factors taken into account include: airport buffer zones and port access, aquaculture farm boundaries, submarine cables and pipelines, exploration Wells and potential oil and gas, fishing aggregation areas, Marine life and bird species within Marine facilities areas, wind strength, etc. Editor/Xu Shengpeng