New power station: no tender for EIA consultant

Planning consultants ERSLI have been chosen to coordinate the Environment Impact Assessment for the new power station in the absence of a public tender.

Instead of issuing a public tender, the government sought a number of quotations, which were subsequently evaluated, a spokesperson for Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi told MaltaToday.

ERSLI is owned by Paul Gauci and Charles Gauci.

Minister Konrad Mizzi has committed the government to a full Environmental Impact Assessment, which should be finished by the time the contract is awarded.

The first phase of the EIA - the submission of a project description statement to MEPA - has already been carried out, but the document only carries Enemalta's signature and makes no reference to ERSLI's role.

By not issuing a public tender, the present government is following the example set by the previous government. EIA consultants ADI were chosen directly in 2005 to conduct the EIA for the proposed Xaghra l-Hamra golf course.

Laws regulating public procurement require that a call for tender be issued for contracts estimated to cost more than €46,000. Costs for EIAs are normally higher than that amount but vary depending on the nature of the project.

A project development statement submitted by Enemalta Corporation to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the construction of a 200MW gas power station and a terminal for natural gas facilities suggests that the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal will be floated offshore onto a barge.

The PDS, a preliminary document that sets the ball rolling for a forthcoming environment impact assessment of Labour's plan for an LNG-run power plant, paves the way for an option to site the terminal that will collect the gas onto a floating barge connected to Delimara via pipeline.

Up to 180,000 cubic metres of storage tanks may be required to store the LNG prior to regasification (that is, the physical process by which liquefied natural gas is heated to be returned into its gaseous state). According to the PDS, this would be the largest single item within the LNG regasification facility that must be sited on the current Delimara power station area.

But the LNG plant may also be situated on a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) that will be moored adjacent to or close to the Delimara power station.

An alternative is to locate the LNG plant onshore, and the hybrid solution would be to have a floating storage unit (FSU) offshore and a regasification unit onshore.

The precise dimensions of the FSRU or FSU will depend on their design. But typical dimensions for a vessel with storage capacities of 180,000 cubic metres could mean a length of up to 300 metres and a beam of up to 52 metres. The ship could be moored indefinitely at a location close to the power station, with the equipment required for the regasification of LNG situated on board. The gas would then be stored in tanks in the ship's hull.

The FSU or FSRU would be equipped with its own generator, to produce power for its own use, but the vessel would still accept power from the Enemalta grid.

During its electoral campaign, the Labour Party never referred to the possibility of having the LNG terminal or its gas storage component located offshore. Indeed, former finance minister Tonio Fenech questioned the suitability of the land around the Delimara plant for the development of an LNG terminal.

Floating LNG terminals are being hailed by many in the industry as a low-cost revolution in meeting growing gas demands.

One of the bidders for the plant, the Indian-owned GMR, has developed storage and regasification units for an LNG terminal at the deep-water port at Kakinada, on the east coast in East Godavari district. Another bidder, Deawoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, is also specialised in this sector.

Eleven companies ranging from the Chinese-government-owned CPECC to multinational giant Shell are competing for the award of the energy contract.