Malta’s ‘energy security’ behind schedule

Labour MPs Joe Mizzi and Evarist Bartolo have accused the government of delaying important plans for Malta’s energy security, with a huge bill for the Delimara extension’s conversion to gas now pending.

Evarist Bartolo told journalists outside the Delimara power station today that government was not yet clear on how much the conversion from heavy fuel oil to gas, originally estimated by contractors BWSC at €26 million, would cost.

“According to the integrated pollution prevention control report by Dr Gordon Cordina, this conversion will not cost €35 million – so what has changed in a year?” Bartolo asked.

According to Enemalta’s electricity generation plan for 2006-2015, Delimara’s new extension was expected to be fired on gas as the “only way” to meet 2020 emission standards.

The combined-cycle gas turbine also had to be accompanied by a gas pipeline, but delays on the pipeline meant that costs today were much higher than originally estimated.

“In 2003, Eni’s estimate for the construction of the pipeline was €93 million, and by 2006 this had increased to €117 million. But since then, the price of steel had skyrocketed due to increase demand in India and China – today the pipeline will cost €231 million,” Bartolo said.

Bartolo said that Labour would make a national energy plan and judicious investments to curtail Malta’s dependence on oil, so that it could deliver cheaper energy prices.

He also said that government has not still identified which country will be paid for Malta to export the hazardous waste from the Delimara power station extension.

Labour MP Joe Mizzi said the government had set itself a 2009 deadline for the extension to be fired by gas. “When it resulted that its deadline was not going to be met, government used its friends to meet a new deadline and resorted to heavy fuel oil.”

Mizzi said irregularities in the €200 million contract that Danish giant BWSC had won, as identified by the Auditor General’s investigation, made it clear that government had to use its “core friends” to get things working as fast as possible.