Half of BWSC plant to be gas-fired by end of February

Half of the BWSC power station will be operating using gas by the end of the month, according to de facto energy minister Konrad Mizzi. He also said that the Delimara 4 has already started to produce some electricity using gas.

Mizzi was answering questions put to him by Marlene Farrugia, who asked the minister to give an update regarding progress made in shifting the Delimara power station to gas, as well as the projected use of renewable energy sources.

Mizzi pointed out that the EU’s assessment of Malta energy supply made it clear that the country cannot depend solely on the interconnector because this would result in the country being “too dependent on the Sicilian market.” Furthermore, he said that a second problem was the fact that Malta’s supply could not be guaranteed in cases were maintenance needed to be carried out on the interconnector or if it were to be damaged in some way.   

“The interconnector is a good project, we applied for the permits immediately and moved forward with it. It can’t however be viewed in isolation and must be thought of as part of an energy mix,” said Mizzi, who stressed that the interconnector alone, even when working at full capacity, is unable to meet the needs of the country.

The minister also told parliament that Enemalta had invested a great deal of money in new distribution centres and that within two years, the country will have a new distribution network strong enough to deal with its energy demands.

Turning to renewable energy, Mizzi said that the government had decided to shift from wind to solar energy to meet its renewable energy targets, for environmental reasons since MEPA had objected wind farms in the North of Malta on the basis that it posed a threat to bird migratory flows. “There was also another site close to the Freeport, however this could not be pursued because of its proximity to the airport landing approach,” he said.