Paceville will need new distribution centre for spike in energy demand from high-rise development

A new distribution centre is needed because the existing Enemalta network at St Andrew’s does not have enough spare capacity to meet new demand levels

Cresta Quay residents will be sandwiched between the new Saint George’s Park and Cresta Quay towers and a distribution centre
Cresta Quay residents will be sandwiched between the new Saint George’s Park and Cresta Quay towers and a distribution centre

Two sites in the St George’s Bay area have been earmarked for the construction of a 900 square-metre, new electricity distribution centre which will be made necessary by the considerable increase in energy demand in Paceville.

Altogether, the nine development projects being earmarked for Paceville’s transformation into a prime coastal area will consume 40 megawatts of energy – four times that consumed by Malta’s national hospital Mater Dei, 7% of the total amount of energy generated by Enemalta and almost a fifth of the total energy produced by the new power LNG terminal.

One of the proposed sites for the distribution centre is a plot of undeveloped land on the other side of Triq Dragonara, opposite Cresta Quay which is now earmarked for three high-rise buildings.

In this way existing residents will not only be sandwiched between the St George’s Park and the Cresta Quay towers but would also have a distribution centre next to them. The other site consists of a plot of land at the edge of the Villa Rosa gardens.

A new distribution centre is needed because the existing Enemalta network at St Andrew’s does not have enough spare capacity to meet these new demand levels.

Enemalta has stated that the St Andrew’s property has enough space for a potential third transformer, but this is still considered insufficient for the proposed developments. 

Therefore a new Distribution Centre (DC) will be needed to supply the new demand. The three 30MVA transformers, with 54MVA of operable capacity will be capable of powering future demand.

An alternative option would be the expansion of St Andrew’s with a third 22.5MVA transformer and a new DC with two 30MVA transformers. This would enable Enemalta to downsize the new DC to 600m2. 

It is not clear whether the costs of the new energy infrastructure for the area will be paid by government or by the developers benefitting from the investment.  

When launching the master plan, Planning Authority CEO Johann Buttigieg announced that the government would be forking out €300 million in improving Paceville’s infrastructure.

The spike in energy demand resulting from developments in Paceville, which would see its resident population increase from 2,000 to 9,000, would also impact on Malta’s energy targets.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the new LNG plant had made it clear that air quality targets can only be reached if energy demand does not increase over current levels. 

According to the EIA the commitment under the Gothenburg protocol – which regulates EU emissions targets – can be reached under the assumption that the electricity demand by 2020 “does not exceed current levels” and that this can be met using the interconnector and the two gas-fired units at Delimara, with the diesel-fired units serving only as emergency backup.