Shanghai Electric hints at plans for Marsa power station site

Chinese principals from the company that owns the Marsa power station have alluded to development plans for the decommissioned energy plant and its nearby docks.

Xia Meixing, deputy head of Shanghai Electric Power, cited various options being considered in the redevelopment of the Marsa power station in an interview with Shine, a Shanghai online news site, in a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malta and China.

Among the “many alternatives” for the transformation of the old plant, Meixing mentioned a “commercial centre, high-end residential buildings and public facilities like a museum or an art gallery”.

The 32,000sq.m plot of land occupied by the former power station was leased to Enemalta plc for 99 years for €65,000 a year in August 2014, before a 33% shareholding acquisition by Shanghai Electric Power.

“As one of the stakeholders of Maltese energy company Enemalta, SEP gives its full support to any plan to revitalize old power stations that can make profits for the enterprise, improve the city image, create employment opportunities and enhance social benefits,” Xia Meixing told Shine News.

also pointed out that over the past decade, Shanghai as a city “has gained much experience in reusing abandoned industrial plants”.

The deed transferring the land to Enemalta was signed a few days before the publication of a legal notice that turned Enemalta into a public limited liability company. The legal notice exempted any land owned by Enemalta plc or its successors, from the Disposal of Government Land Act (DGLA), meaning that such land transfers do not require any further authorisation by MPs – exempting the company from seeking a parliamentary resolution or public tender to sell off the land.

The land had already been identified for future commercial development, according to a project development statement for the decommissioning of the plant submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in 2015.

Back in August 2021, the government unveiled its vision for regeneration of the Grand Harbour but stopped short of saying how the power station site will be utilised.

But in November the Planning Authority issued guiding principles for the regeneration of the Grand Harbour area. The proposed plan proposes turning the inner harbour area into a “prime tourism and leisure harbour destination”.

However, it adds that this should be integrated with a “socially diverse, coastal residential neighbourhood on the site of the former Marsa power station and its immediate areas”.

The guidelines exclude high-rise developments, which are not deemed appropriate in this location as they may impact on views of the fortifications and may not relate well with tall buildings in another part of Marsa, already designated for high-rise office developments.

New buildings also have to “relate well” with existing buildings of cultural importance like the Chadwick Building, the ex-Sea Malta building and the other traditional warehouse buildings on the quays.

The plan also envisages the closure or scaling down or relocation of heavy industries and cargo handling from within the inner harbour area, including ship repair facilities, the abattoir, and other “obnoxious industries”.

The Menqa tal-Braken area is also being earmarked for a yacht marina and “a high-quality innovation hub” set to include shared spaces for start-ups in the creative industries. A network of public green open spaces and recreational areas is also being proposed along the stretch of coastline.

In 2017 the Chamber of Architects had protested against the demolition of parts of the power station deemed to have architectural value as part of Malta’s industrial heritage and could be used to house a modern art gallery like the Tate in London.

Meixing also referred to SEP’s plans for a Zero Carbon Island “five-in-one” (energy, grid, load, storage and power control) project on the island of Gozo.

He also described the controversial Enemalta investment in the Mozura Wind Power Plant, in Montenegro, as a “successful example of cooperation” between Mediterranean nations.

An investigation by Reuters and Times of Malta last year revealed that Yorgen Fenech’s 17 Black profited from the wind-farm deal through its business relationship with Cifidex, a Seychelles-based offshore company.