The transition to low‐carbon energy and energy independence of a country play an important role in the sustainable development of its energy sector. Another important issue of sustainable energy development is the cost competitiveness in the generation process; with new renewable energy technologies, a sustainable energy transition to carbon‐neutral society is possible. In this article, we present a view of sustainable energy transformation based on a case study of Malta. We have created a simulation of a Maltese electricity system with projected growth and dominance of photovoltaic energy in the electricity market. The study results suggest that a system with a high penetration of photovoltaics has significant advantage over a conventional system using fossil fuels. In particular, in the simulated Maltese system, the total annual cost of energy was reduced threefold, the CO2 emissions were reduced by 40%, and the energy independence of Malta increased by 60%. In the end, the article gives a recommendation for further research into the Maltese energy system.

中文翻译：

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马耳他向可持续发展的低碳转型

一个国家向低碳能源转型和能源独立对其能源行业的可持续发展具有重要作用。可持续能源发展的另一个重要问题是发电过程中的成本竞争力；借助新的可再生能源技术，向碳中和社会的可持续能源转型是可能的。在本文中，我们基于马耳他的案例研究提出了可持续能源转型的观点。我们创建了马耳他电力系统的模拟，预计光伏能源在电力市场上的增长和主导地位。研究结果表明，光伏发电高渗透率的系统比使用化石燃料的传统系统具有显着的优势。特别是，在模拟的马耳他系统中，每年的能源总成本降低了三倍，二氧化碳2排放量减少了 40%，马耳他的能源独立性提高了 60%。文章最后对马耳他能源系统的进一步研究提出了建议。