Former Enemalta chairman: interconnector easier option than gas plant in 2010

The former chairman of Enemalta, Alex Tranter, has told the public accounts committee that he felt an interconnector to the European grid was deemed to be the path of least resistance, rather than construct a new gas plant.

Tranter, called to testify on the NAO’s inquiry into the procurement of the 200MW gas plant, said he had convinced the Nationalist administration at the time to first connect Malta to Sicily through an electricity connector, before making the shift to gas.

Malta’s gas policy shift took place after Labour’s election in 2013, having been its key policy plank to reduce energy bills, with the Electrogas gas plant having been completed in December 2017.

Tranter had presided over a controversial decision to raise energy tariffs for domestic and commercial users, at a time when the state utility was burdened by large inefficiencies and huge debts.

Tranter, unable to answer most technical questions made to him by government MPs, claimed that as chairman of Enemalta, he was not consulted on energy policy strategy, but made a point of saying that he put his weight behind the interconnector project being implemented before any gas plant was considered. “To me it seemed far less cumbersome to go for the interconnector rather than build a new plant… I felt the first priority for anyone was to make sure they had energy when they switched on the light.”

Tranter said that Enemalta would often buy fuel oil on the market at current prices, or through hedging agreements. “It was no easy balancing act, and not something that guaranteed the best outcome.”

The former chairman was hard-pressed by government MPs over whether Enemalta’s hedging policy at the time had won any benefits in terms of energy bills, which at the time had been increased. “The increase in energy bills was down to an increase in the price of oil. The increase was not even proportionate to the increase in oil, but tariffs were somewhat increased,” he said.

Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield asked Tranter whether he agreed with former Enemalta CEO David Spiteri Gingell, who in 2013 had claimed that decisions on Enemalta were being taken “by South Street”, namely the ministry for investments led by Austin Gatt.

Tranter said he had no say in the new tariff structure, which he said was decided politically. “On our part, we had to present decision-makers with the reality of the oil market and the expense of producing the energy.”

Today Tranter works as CEO (energy and food) at Vassallo Group, namely leading solar farm division Powereze, and food caterer Cateressence.

In 2008 he had informed Enemalta’s board of directors that he would abstain from any decision on the Delimara power station’s extension, since Danish firm BWSC was subcontracting Vassallo Builders on the civil works.

In 2010, while still chairman of Enemalta, he was also a director of Vassallo Builders Group when the company launched its bid for the installation of solar panels on government buildings, together with American solar farm company Sunpower. Weeks before, he had been the CEO of an Italian solar farm company, Sunray Holdings, that was sold off to Sunpower for €200 million.

Tranter was later also declared innocent of misuse of public funds, misappropriation and fraud over the alleged extravagant misuse of company credit cards during his tenure between 2005 and 2010.