Gonzi says Lahmeyer report in 2008 recommended gas terminal
Prime Minister says government decided against LNG terminal because of safety issues and instead opted for interconnector.
21 January 2013, 12:00am
Jurgen Balzan
Jurgen Balzan
2 min read
PN leader Lawrence Gonzi met shop owners and consumers in Valletta on Monday morning.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has admitted that a report commissioned by the Malta Resources Authority to Lahmeyer International in 2008 on alternative sources of energy generation, which would have recommended a switch to gas, was never published by the state utility.
The report proposed the construction of a natural gas terminal, which however was turned down by the Cabinet due to security risks, the prime minister said.
The report was brought up by Labour leader Joseph Muscat in a debate on PBS's Xarabank last Friday evening, where he challenged the prime minister as to whether all reports pertaining to Malta's energy generation had been published.
Gonzi today toured shops and hawkers on Merchant's Street in Valletta, where the press asked the prime minister over the 2008 Lahmeyer report.
The report is considered to be potentially embarrassing, because in 2009 the government was considering the choice of heavy fuel oil to power a new extension for the Delimara power station.
"Muscat may have been referring to reports commissioned by the MRA, one of which was drawn up by Lahmeyer in 2008... the report included in one of its recommendations, an LNG terminal and storage tanks.
"However the government decided against this proposal because of the great security risks it posed, and we decided the interconnector was the most viable choice at the time. We were already looking into the gas pipeline, something confirmed by Labour's own consultants DNV Kema as the preferred option," Gonzi said.
The prime minister said he could see no reason why the MRA should not publish the reports now. "The government felt at the time that there was no need to publish this report."
Lahmeyer's own reputation in Malta is intertwined with that of Danish firm BWSC, which supplied the Delimara extension that runs on the much maligned heavy fuel oil: Lahmeyer's international blacklisting and role in recommending the BWSC option had been blasted by Labour.
He added that the government had opted against the gas terminal and storage tanks because government's policy was going in the opposite direction, climaxing with the closure of the Qajjenza gas storage tanks on the recommendation of the EU.
On the snubbed ENI proposals mentioned by Labour, Gonzi confirmed that the Italian multinational oil and gas company had proposed two projects to the Maltese government.
One was a T-junction pipeline which had to join Malta to the pipeline between Italy and Libya. The other was a gas pipeline which the Maltese government had to repay over a 25-year-period and which also included a condition to purchase a fixed amount of gas at a fixed price. Gonzi said both options were rejected because they were "too costly and unsustainable."
Jurgen Balzan was a MaltaToday reported from 2011 to 2017.
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when an administration appoints consultants it doesn't necessarily mean the administration has to accept the consultants' advice. It can accept some of the recommendations, or all of them, or reject them all. Decisions are taken by the administration of the day.
Paul Sammut •
The prime minister said that the construction of a natural gas terminal however was turned down by the Cabinet due to security risks. Is there an experts report dealing with these risks referred to by the prime minister?
The third paragraph from the end of the article makes no sense. LNG is a total different kettle of fish from LPG, the bottled gas we currently use. A new LPG depot was built at Kalafrana. Some logical consistency would be appreciated.
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Why doesn't Gonzi order MRA to publish the report in question ? Or he has only authority to give promotions, employ people, etc.. namely, using his power of incumbency. But is then seemingly powerless when it comes to transparency ?
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No wonder he was blinking like crazy when Dr Muscat was asking him about whether he had published everything. Your body language betrays you when you don't tell the truth. If there were security concerns why was the terminal actually recommended? Will you apologize to the Maltese people for telling untruths on Xarabank Dr. Gonzi?
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Ah, very interesting. I am curious about GonziPN logic. He accuses PL of going against their experts advice because they chose an option which was not the preferred option but now confirms that he himself has gone against his experts advice in a report which has been kept secret from the people, his paymasters. If this advice was turned down because of the "great risks it posed" why was it kept secret? The PL plan is also criticised because of these same risks. What about the Qatari terminal being proposed? Does it not pose even greater risks? Or is it a case of the bigger the terminal the smaller the risk as this is in inverse proportion to the size? Hawwadni ha nifmek GonziPN.
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Fuq dan il-gideb u kliem imgebbed li qed jghid Gonzi, nista nghid li m'ghandu x'jaqsam xejn ma Malta Ewropeja: aktar Malta tas-seklu l-iehor!
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Gonzi, please be consistent. And remember that bad liars are always caught out because of the inconsistency of their arguments. Instead of barking against Labour, you had better use your charm and visit Ragusa, perhaps you would persuade the locals there not to protest against our interconnector.
Igor P. Shuvalov •
In 2008 Lahmeyer decided on gas but "government decided against LNG terminal because of safety issues and instead opted for interconnector. (1) And in five years the Government did not manage to activate this interconnector. (2) The same Government was dealing with the Qatar to set up a gas terminal in Malta, not just to provide gas for the local power station but to export gas from Malta.. which of course means much larger tanks than those proposed by the Labour Party.
