National Statistics Office of Malta

Regional, Geospatial, Energy and Transport Statistics Unit

National Statistics Office

Lascaris

Valletta, VLT 2000

Malta

Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) is one module of the European environmental-economic accounts - Regulation (EU) 691/2011 Annex VI. PEFA record the flows of energy (in terajoules) from the environment to the economy (natural inputs), within the economy (products), and from the economy back to the environment (residuals), using the accounting framework of physical supply and use tables.

PEFA provide information on energy flows arranged in a way fully compatible with concepts, principles, and classifications of national accounts – thus enabling integrated analyses of environmental, energy and economic issues e.g. through environmental-economic modelling. PEFA complement the traditional energy statistics, balances and derived indicators which are the main reference data source for EU energy policies.

This national metadata refers to the PEFA questionnaire delivered to Eurostat: data on supply (table A), use (table B), transformation use (table B1), end use (table B2) and emission-relevant use (table C), key indicators of physical energy flow accounts by NACE Rev. 2 activity (table D), and physical energy flow accounts totals bridging to energy balances totals (table E).

The PEFA questionnaire is available on Eurostat's website: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/methodology

Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) datasets have the following dimensions:

1. Supply and use tables (STK_FLOW): the elements of this dimension are the five tables detailing energy supply (questionnaire table A) and use; the total energy use (table B) is the sum of transformation use (table B1) and end use (table B2), and a certain part of it is emission relevant (table C).
2. Energy product (PROD_NRG): (not relevant for questionnaire table D and E) The flows of energy recorded in PEFA are broadly grouped into natural energy inputs (flows from environment to economy), energy products (flows within economy), and energy residuals (flows from economy to environment mainly). Each of these generic groups is further broken down. In total this dimension distinguishes 31 items which are regulated in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/172.
3. Classification of economic activities - NACE Rev.2 (NACE_R2): (not relevant for questionnaire table E) The supply and use of energy flows is broken down by NACE classification of economic activities. The aggregation level used is A*64 (i.e. 64 branches), fully compatible with ESA supply and use tables. Furthermore, this dimension includes private households, accumulation (e.g. product inventories), the rest of the world economy for imports and exports, and the environment.
4. Indicators (INDIC_PEFA): (only relevant for questionnaire tables D and E): Various key indicators that can be derived from the physical supply and use tables and so-called 'bridging-items' which present the various elements explaining the differences between the national totals as reported by PEFA vis-a-vis the national totals as reported by Eurostat's energy balances.
5. Geopolitical entity (GEO): EU Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries, and potential candidates. 
6. Period of time (TIME): Energy flow data are annual.
7. Unit (UNIT): Energy flows are reported in Terajoules.

The data set covers the entire national economy as defined in national accounts (ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04), as well as its physical relation to economies in the rest of the world and the environment.

Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) are conceptually rooted in the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) which is an international statistical standard. The SEEA central framework provides standard concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and tables for the provision of statistics on the environment and its relationship with the economy.
PEFA constitute satellite accounts to the National Accounts (NA). Hence, the statistical concepts and definitions of PEFA are derived from those of NA.
As far as applicable PEFA is also compliant with the statistical concepts and definitions internationally established for energy statistics: the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES).
Three concepts are essential to PEFA:
1) The concept of three generic types of energy flows as established in SEEA, namely:
a) natural energy inputs: flows from the natural environment into the economy such as fossil energy carriers in solid, liquid and gaseous form, biomass, solar radiation, kinetic energy in form of hydro and wind, geothermal heat etc.;
b) energy products: output flows from production processes as defined in national accounts (ESA); typically products produced by extractive industries, refineries, power plants etc.;
c) energy residuals: mainly energy in form of dissipative heat arising from the end use of energy products, flowing from the economy into the natural environment.
2) The accounting framework of (physical) supply and use tables as established in NA and SEEA;
3) The residence principle as established in NA and SEEA, i.e. PEFA records energy flows related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically.

Data refer to activities of resident economic units in the sense of SEEA CF 2012 and national accounts (ESA), including households.

The national economy is as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and national accounts (ESA); i.e. all economic activities undertaken by resident units (see ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory.

The national territory.

Data for PEFA 2018-2021 is transmitted this year, data for PEFA 2016-2017 was transmitted two years ago, while for PEFA 2014-2015, Eurostat estimates were used.

Not applicable.

The unit of measure is terajoule (TJ).

The data refer to the calendar year.

PEFA are legally covered by Regulation (EC) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts as amended by Regulation (EU) No. 538/2014. EEEA currently include six modules (air emissions accounts, environmentally related taxes by economic activity, economy-wide material flow accounts, environmental protection expenditure accounts, environmental goods and services sector accounts, and physical energy flow accounts).

Not applicable.

At National level:

The NSO requests information for the compilation of official statistics according to the articles of the MSA Act – Cap. 422 and the Data Protection Act – Cap. 586 of the Laws of Malta implementing the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Article 40 of the MSA Act stipulates the restrictions on the use of information while Article 41 stipulates the prohibition of disclosure of information. Furthermore, Section IX of the Act (Offences and Penalties) lays down the measures to be taken in case of unlawful exercise of any officer of statistics regarding confidentiality of data.

Since its inception, the NSO has always assured that all data collected remains confidential and that it is used for statistical purposes only according to the articles and derogations stipulated in the laws quoted above.  The Office is obliged to protect the identify of data providers and refrain from divulging any data to third parties that might lead to the identification of persons or entities.

During 2009, the NSO has set up a Statistical Disclosure Committee to ensure that statistical confidentiality is observed, especially when requests for microdata are received.

Upon employment, all NSO employees are informed of the rules and duties pertaining to confidential information and its treatment. In line with stipulations of the MSA Act, before commencing work, every employee is required to take an oath of secrecy whose text is included in the same Act.

An internal policy on anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation is in place to ascertain that adequate methods are used for the protection of data which the office collects and shares with the public in its capacity as the National Statistics Office.  The policy is meant to safeguard confidentiality of both personal and business data entrusted to the NSO.  The document provides guidance for all NSO employees who process data on a daily basis as to how anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation methods should be applied.  The policy applies to all confidential, restricted and internal information, regardless of form (paper or electronic documents, applications and databases) that is received, processed, stored and disseminated by the NSO.

At European level:

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Confidential data are not shown. The most common approach is to present only aggregation of the confidential data point with the non-confidential data that is the nearest suitable data point.

Energy statistics data are published in aggregated format and there is no risk of disclosure.

No confidential figures are present in PEFA. To maintain confidentiality, data is aggregated so that no confidential information is divulged.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

At National level:

Work processes and procedures for the compilation of PEFA are documented in a standardised reporting template and aligned to the GSBPM model. GSBPM is only available internally and may be accessed by all NSO employees.

At European level:

The PEFA questionnaire, which is compiled and disseminated to Eurostat by NSO, is in line with the PEFA guidelines which can be found on the Eurostat’s website https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/environment/methodology.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

At National level:

The procedures used for the analysis of data are documented in line with the GSBPM model and made available to NSO staff members only.

Energy Statistics SIMS reports are available to the public on the NSO’s metadata website including concepts related to metadata and quality.

The NSO has developed an internal Quality Management Framework (QMF) which is built on common requirements of the ESS Code of Practice (ESS CoP).  A document was prepared to include a set of general quality guidelines spanning over all statistical domains.  Assuring methodological soundness is an integral part of the QMF, nonetheless, the document spans also on other areas related to institutional aspects.

At European level:

A quality report is submitted to Eurostat on a yearly basis with respect to the PEFA questionnaire.

At National level:

The accuracy of energy statistics is ensured by adherence to the methodological notes provided by Eurostat in the PEFA guidelines.

The NSO has developed an internal Quality Management Framework (QMF) which is built on common requirements of the ESS Code of Practice (ESS CoP).  A document was prepared to include a set of general quality guidelines spanning over all statistical domains.  Assuring methodological soundness is an integral part of the QMF, nonetheless, the document spans also on other areas related to institutional aspects.

Every five to seven years, the NSO participates in a Peer Review exercise through which the compliance of its operations with principles of the ESS CoP is assessed by an expert team.  Peer Reviews are indeed part of the European Statistical System (ESS) strategy to implement the ESS CoP.  Each NSI is expected to provide information as requested by a standard self-assessment questionnaire.  Following this an expert team visits the office to meet NSI representatives and main stakeholders.  Peer Reviews result in a compliance report and the listing of a set of Improvement Actions which need to be followed up by the NSI.

The compilation and dissemination of the PEFA questionnaire is in adherence with the PEFA guidelines as provided by Eurostat.

The data sources conduct their own quality assessments, however, the NSO verifies the data submitted by these sources for implausible combinations, consistency across time, data gaps and coherence. Such consistency checks ensure that the overall quality of energy statistics is good.

The major users of Energy Statistics are Eurostat. Eurostat uses the data submitted by Member States to produce tables and indicators about energy statistics which are disseminated by means of news releases, publications and online databases. These data help DG ENER and the European Commission to assess the progress of Member States towards achieving targets in the energy domain.

PEFA is currently not being used at national level. PEFA tables may be used as a good source for energy statistics users, similar to the Annual Energy Questionnaires and the Energy Balance.

PEFA data is not published nationally.

See information under section 12.3.1.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

The data being reported is fully in line with the latest version of the Energy Statistics Annual Questionnaires submitted for reference year 2021. These have been accepted by Eurostat and by national authorities. Lower data quality is being assumed for the beakdown by NACE, since ratios were used for the data reporting. We plan to continue discussions with the unit responsible for the submission of the AEA to improve the quality and coherence between both questionnaires.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

Not applicable to statistical accounts.

PEFA questionnaire is submitted to Eurostat by the stipulated deadline.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data on PEFA are compiled according to international guidelines and insofar comparable. Application of the PEFA Builder tool ensures comparability to a certain extent.

Not applicable.

Please see the table in 15.2.1.1.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Comparability over time is ensured through the implementation of a constant methodology as endorsed by Eurostat.  Detailed data on Energy Statistics are comparable from 2016 onwards since for 2014-2015 Eurostat estimates are used.

For PEFA 2014-2015, Eurostat estimates are used. This may create a break in series for table E. For the remaining tables, the same methodology of the Eurostat estimates was applied. From last year, we improved the data reporting for the air transport (NACE Division H51) from 2018 onwards, thus this may create a break in series in the submissions prior 2018.

Same data sources are used in the AEA to ensure coherence with PEFA.

Not applicable; reported PEFA data are only annual.

Ratios from the Supply and Use tables were used for the breakdown of production activities in table B.2, in order to ensure coherence with the ESA Supply and Use tables.

Several meetings with AEA producers were held to ensure consistency in both submissions. Several improvements are made and others are being discussed for future submissions.

All assumptions taken for PEFA are shared with the AEA compilers.

The imports and exports reported in PEFA are in line with those reported in the Annual energy questionnaires and in the energy balance whilst taking account of the residents principle.

These last two years we collected and used new data on air transport from a different source to try to improve coherence with other submitted data. We will try to continue improving the PEFA questionnaire in future submissions. 

PEFA data points are in line with those reported in the Annual energy questionnaires and in the energy balance.

Currently such checks are not being made. We will try to continue improving the PEFA questionnaire in future submissions. 

Eurostat's validation procedures should ensure full internal consistency, at least for the mandatory data points.

No systematic study about the cost associated with the data collection and production for energy statistics has been carried out. The data used by the NSO to compile energy statistics are mainly provided by administrative sources which have been set up as a requirement of other regulations and directives.

One full-time equivalent for one month to produce PEFA was required considering that revisions were made for reference years 2018-2020.

Revisions were made for the years 2018-2020 for the data to be in line with the latest version of the Energy Statistics Annual Questionnaires.

Revision of data compliant with the ESS Code of Practice principles.

At the NSO, there is an internal policy governing revisions that occur for all statistics produced. A revisions policy has been implemented to safeguard a coordinated revisions system across statistical domains. This policy takes account of the need and causes for revisions; time and frequency of revisions; data and other statistical products affected by such revisions; and length of periods revised.

In cases where the administrative sources revise the data which have already been used in the questionnaires transmitted to Eurostat, the data will be revised and resubmitted accordingly.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data sources used to produce physical energy flow accounts are described in the following sub-concepts.

The Energy Statistics Annual questionnaires together with the Energy Balance.

The Energy Statistics Annual questionnaires together with the Energy Balance; the Supply and Use tables; data provided by Enemed Co. Ltd.; National Statistics Office data and the Fuel Use Survey.

The Energy Statistics Annual questionnaires together with the Energy Balance.

The Energy Statistics Annual questionnaires together with the Energy Balance; the Supply and Use tables; data provided by Enemed Co. Ltd.; National Statistics Office data and the Fuel Use Survey.

The Supply and Use tables were used for the breakdown of production activities, while the Energy Balance and the Fuel Use Survey were used for the categories of household consumption.

No, the PEFA builder was not used.

The amounts that were reported in table E had to be adjusted in table B.2. Thus, the amounts reported for the fuel purchased on the territory by the non-residents in table E for land transport and aviation were deducted from the corresponding fuels reported in table B.2. Similarly, fuel purchased abroad by the resident units reported in table E had to be added to the corresponding fuels reported in table B.2.

For all data sources, administrative data is collected on a yearly basis to compile the Energy Statistics Annual questionnaires together with the Energy Balance. With regards to the Supply and Use tables, data provided by Enemed Co. Ltd. and National Statistics Office data, these are requested on an annual basis. The Fuel Use Survey is compiled every four years.

The administrative data listed in sub-concepts 18.1 and 18.2 are received by email and are password encrypted. When the administrative data are received, the NSO makes sure that all the variables requested have been provided by the administrative data source. In cases where not all the variables have been provided, the NSO informs the administrative data source accordingly.

The figures used in the PEFA tables are in line with the data published in the Energy Balance.

The data compilation process is done through the administrative databases. The data compiled are used to compile the PEFA questionnaire which is transmitted to Eurostat.

Not applicable.

All supply of electricity and heat is assigned in NACE D35. The ESA monetary supply table was not used in the split by NACE of table A.

By using the Fuel Use Survey, each fuel was split between the amount used in passenger vehicles for households and the amount used in industries. A ratio was obtained, which was then applied on the amount reported under the Road Sector in the Energy Balance.

Ratios from the Supply and Use tables were used for the breakdown of energy use to detailed service industries.

Several meetings with AEA producers were held to ensure consistency in both submissions. Several improvements were made in recent submissions.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.