Labour pledges cheaper bills through realistic energy policy

Concluding the Labour congress debate held on 'Energy for the Future', Muscat reiterated Labour's commitment to lower energy costs can be done in a realistic manner without requiring concealed taxation to make good for the financial shortcoming.

"We will not play these games," Muscat said, responding to criticism that Labour's pledges on utility prices represent unrealistic electoral tactics. "The savings will be real and stem from new technologies and a mix of energies thanks to an energy policy that is clear and sustainable," he insisted.

Muscat also hit out at what he described as a "clear lack of vision" on government's behalf with regards to energy generation, pointing out that the manner in which the energy sector was divided up into various ministries shows "a lack of coherence" and "a lack of ownership of the energy sector."

He pledged that this would be a new Labour government, and insisted that Malta's energy policy could yet be its most socially significant one, given the manner in which families' quality of life is being affected by spiraling energy prices.

He said also reiterated that energy prices represent one of the biggest negative factors on local competitiveness. "The gaps are too big to be noticed," Mucat said, referring to the lack of cohesive planning in energy generation.

Muscat also said that Malta is lagging behind on its EU 2020 renewable energy and emissions targets, "We are only 7 years away. Action should start now, and we are already late," he said.

While conceding the success of government's solar panels schemes, Muscat said that this effort cannot be a one-time initiative, and the effort must be sustained, adding that the progress with regards to other sources of renewable energy was not so stellar.

He said that despite the fuss regarding wind generation only a handful of years ago, "today we do not know what became of what should have been an essential part of Malta's 2020 rewewable energy generation plans," Muscat said.

"We need to take stock and examine where we have gotten to, what we have left to do, and what we need to do to get there," Muscat said.

Discussing the interconnector project, he said that keeping in mind Enemalta's project timeline commitments regarding when this would start working, "the goalposts and targets keep shifting." Muscat said that "now even the definitions are shifting. While before they said it would start working by the end of the year, now they are saying it will be installed by the end of the year."

"Everything is disjointed," Muscat said. "There is a lack of policy" pointing, as confirmation of this, to the manner in which government has already issued a tender for the conversion of the Delimara power station extension to gas before this has started operating.

 "This is  a confirmation of the total incompetence and flagrant lack of policy on energy," Muscat said.

Muscat reiterated that Labour is committed to implementing a holistic, sustainable, and realistic energy policy for Malta.

He said that this policy will include renewable energy, conventional energy, and even interconnectors linking Malta with the North as well as the South of the Mediterranean. "We cannot ignore the opportunities of conventional energy sources, as well as renewable sources, which lay to the South."

Pointing to Malta's shortcomings in the oil exploration sector, Muscat also insisted that Malta cannot be held hostage by foreign companies due to a lack of research and information which the country neglected to develop.

Throughout the Labour Party congress on 'energy for the future', several individuals stood to emphasize how government action is sorely needed on aspects such as oil exploration, renewable energy, emission decrease, and the state of Enemalta's infrastructure and finances.

Peter Gatt said that Malta has been searching for oil since the 50s without success despite how neighboring countries such as Italy and Tunisia found their own oil reserves. For every

He said that over the past 50 years, Malta has only dug 12 oils, which he said was insignificant given Malta's available area for oil searching an how, on average, one out of every 87 oil wells prove fruitful. "We have not even started oil exploration yet," he said, adding that Malta can be described as a "frontier area."

He said that Malta's obstacles in this regard are local, such as an institutionalized hindrance such as the lack of an institutionalized geographical service, which marks out Malta as the only European country to lack such an insitutionalised geographical service.

He added that concessions granted by Malta in terms of its continental portion are disfavorably disproportionate, despite how our own constitutional law demands an equilateral and balanced 'share' of available territory.

Gat insisted that Malta's potential for oil exploration are "very good". He called on the government to take affirmative action in this regard by removing this innate hindrance, establish the necessary institutions, and encourage foreign investment.

He said that it s up to Malta to present itself as a non-risky investment option and attract interest. "12 wells in 50 years is a record of failure," Gatt reiterated.

John Darmanin said that gas, unlike fuel oil, does not have a refining fee. He insisted that gas, as a more efficient fuel source, would be a preferable source of energy.

Where Malta's energy generation plants be converted to gas, he said, Malta's energy generation costs would drop by 18%. He added that with investment in more modern machinery, this cost would drop around to 40%.

He also pointed out that by 2020, Malta requires 10% of its energy be produce through renewable sources, as well as reducing its greenhouse gases by 20%. He said that Malta's best options for renewable energy lay in solar, wind, and waste energy. He added that solar energy was the easiest, while wind energy had the largest energy generation potential.

In his own address, biologist Joseph Buhagiar spoke of the impact of energy generation on the environment. He said that locally, this has already had an effect given how the ecology in Delimara has already changed due to the warmth of the water being dumped into the sea from the Power Station. "With the new plant, this will increase by around 50%" he said.

He said that the most worrying aspect is the sludge and other residues (like nickel and vanadium) that will be left over once the heavy fuel oil power plant extension will generate. "If these are not disposed correctly, they will have extensive environmental repercussions."

Engineer Frederick Azzopardi also spoke of his work in limiting Co2 emissions among local councils, and called attention to how Local Councils are facing obstacles when applying for EU funding as part of their attempts to lower emissions.

During a brief address, ex-Enemalta Financial Controller Tarcisio MIfsud said that when the Italy/Libya fuel pipeline was laid, he had urged the government to explore options for Malta to reap some benefit given how it traversed Maltese territory. He urged a future Labour government to reopen the case with energy companies NOC and ENI to try and explore ways Malta can benefit from the Italy/Libya fuel pipeline.

Discussing Enemalta's finances, as well as the price of fuel and energy, he said that while it is true that Enemalta was not in a position to pay for the Delimara plant, but insisted that this was because between 1987 and 1995, the then-Nationalist Government "took Lm 69 million in cash and cheques."

Jonathan Scerri said that called for a decrease in bureaucracy to facilitate the exploration of energy-saving schemes like double glazing and solar panels.

He said that the reverse osmosis plant should be operated at night to lighten the energy load on Enemalta's grid, which is already overloaded. He also called for the introduction of special night traffic which could assist businesses like bakeries and other manufacturing industries.

Regarding the interconnector, he urged that this should not be considered a replacement for renewable energy. He also called for government to stop dithering on rewnwable energy sources and "decide on what source it wants to explore."

Energy Lawyer Mark Attard Montalto called for energy prices which are competitive and attractive to investors. He said that while the cost of energy generation in Delimara is €130 per megawatt/hour, and that in Marsa stands at €178 per mw/h, the average cost in the EU is between €90 and €95.

Describing this as "ridiculous", Montalto said that Enemalta needs to be turned around not only to start offering competitive energy prices, but also to start bringing in a profit to offset its €600 million debt. "Clearly there is no plan to make Malta more competitive," he said.