No date yet for floating power station’s final permit

No date has been set yet by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the approval of the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Permit (IPPC) for the new floating gas power station in Delimara.

A MEPA spokesperson confirmed that a formal application for this permit has yet to be submitted even if the technical documentation relating to the IPPC application has been submitted and is being reviewed.

The government is committed to having the new power infrastructure finalised by March 2015. Before the election Joseph Muscat said he would step down should a government led by him fail to deliver on its pledge to deliver the plant by March, 2015. Installations like power stations and large chemical plants have to obtain an IPPC permit from MEPA to be allowed to operate. The permitting process ensures that these plants make use of the best available technology in their operations.

The IPPC assesses the whole environmental performance of the plant, including matters like emissions into the air, water and land, generation of waste, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents and risk management.

A planning permit was approved by MEPA in February 2014 but a number of reports, including a nautical risk assessment and a cost benefit analysis being carried out as part of the IPPC process have yet not been published.

Earlier this week Din l-Art Helwa called on MEPA to publish the Nautical Risk Assessment and the Cost Benefit Analysis.

The Cost Benefit Analysis will reveal the percentage of national demand provided by the new privately owned power station and the share of energy from other sources like the interconnector.

According to the MEPA spokesperson a number of discussions are being carried out on a weekly basis.

“Since this involves multiple operators the application will be submitted once a way forward is agreed,” the MEPA spokesperson told MaltaToday.

MaltaToday also asked MEPA for a list of the studies requested by MEPA but no answer was forthcoming. Neither did MEPA reply to the question on whether the IPPC permit will be concluded before the power station starts operating.

In the case of new installations an IPPC permit has to be approved by the MEPA board before the commencement of operations.

The temporary use of heavy fuel oil for the BWSC-constructed Delimara power station was approved through an IPPC permit granted during a stormy meeting of the MEPA board in December 2011. The permit was subsequently extended by MEPA under the present administration.