Marsa power station to be completely dismantled today

The plug on the Marsa Power Station is to be finally pulled as it no longer needs to be on cold standby the government said.

The closing of the power station means that the plant will no longer serve as a backup in the event of major power cuts. The Marsa power station was officially shut down on February 15, 2015, but sections of the plant were on cold standby since then.

The government said today Enemalta was disconnecting the cable feeders linking the power station’s last remaining cold standby plants from the national electricity grid. It said that the power plant was no longer necessary and plants 5, 6, 7 and 8 were to removed from the country’s electricity grid for the complete dismantling of the plant.

Following the removal of the cable feeders today, the remaining units and structures will be dismantled.

The oil that was left in the tanks was also to be removed for these to also be dismantled.

In a statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said the removal of the Marsa power station was possible because Enemalta had started to receive gas-generated electricity from the new Delimara power plants. It said this would mean cleaner for residents of the area.

On his part, Konrad Mizzi, the de facto energy minister, said this would not have been possible had the new Electrogas gas-generated power plant not been built and had the investment with Shanghai Electric Power not been undertaken to convert the BWSC plant to gas.

The minister also said that Enemalta was also developing a new distribution centre in part of the Marsa power station site. This was to be one of the most important centres in Malta to improve the service given by Enemalta, he said.