Bonnici Brothers win tender to construct €37 million emergency power plant in Delimara

UNEC Ltd., owned by Bonnici Brothers, have been awarded the tender by Enemalta to build a €37 million emergency power plant in Delimara.

UNEC Ltd. was one of the four companies who submitted a bid for the tender, and was the only Maltese firm to do so.

The other companies have until 15 April to file an objection.

Earlier this year MaltaToday reported how Enemalta chairman Ryan Fava warned that the company would not be in a position to guarantee the country a “security of energy supply” during peak summer months, without a new 60MW “temporary” diesel-powered “emergency plant” in Delimara.

UNEC Ltd is obligated to construct the emergency diesel-powered facility in Delimara, commencing no later than the start of July, and to manage its operations for a duration of two years, pending the establishment of a secondary undersea interconnector between Malta and Sicily.

The new plant, which can be used for a maximum of 500 hours a year, will consist of two containerized gasoil-fired generators located within the boundaries of the existing Delimara power station. The plant is expected to cost Enemalta €46 million over a period of 27 months.

The decision to invest in the new temporary plant was publicly announced by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli in November 2023, when she said the government was allocating €12 million for a power source that could generate an extra 60MW of electricity if one of the existing power supplies were to be interrupted in some way.