Malta-Sicily interconnector active by beginning of 2014 – Fenech
Finance minister Tonio Fenech has said that the Malta-Sicily interconnector will be functional by early 2014. €200 million has been invested in the project, with a further €75 million investment in the distribution infrastructure.
13 February 2013, 12:00am
Jacob Borg
Jacob Borg
1 min read
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech visits the Kappara distribution centre.
The interconnector is planned to be up and running by early 2014. The cable will land at the Magthab terminal station, where it will then be linked to other distribution centres around the island.
Works on the interconnector are expected to begin this August from Malta’s end.
The interconnector project involves a total investment of €200 million, with a further €75 million invested in bolstering Malta’s distribution network.
Finance minister Tonio Fenech said that the requirements of a distribution network are often oversimplified, but in fact a hefty infrastructure is needed.
€11 million alone has been invested in the Kappara distribution centre. This centre will service the localities of St Julians, Sliema and the surrounding areas.
Fenech said that once the interconnector is up and running, Malta will have a generation capacity of 690MW. To put this into perspective, the peak demand in summer is usually around 420-430MW.
Further to this, the interconnector will have a redundant capacity of 160Mw for a one-hour period.
“Night tariffs will be introduced as soon as the interconnector is functional. The smart meters already in place in households and businesses will allow for minute by minute monitoring of electrical consumption,” Fenech said.
The night tariffs are expected to introduce a saving of 7-26% between the hours of 10pm and 6am.
Works at the Kappara roundabout have been completed and traffic is flowing normally.
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I wouldn't be too worried over the tariff, if the electricity is coming from Italy it will be high. I would be more worried that when you plug in the kettle the electricity fails.
We have great fun with the electricity in Italy.
http://englishmaninitaly.wordpress.com/?s=electrickery
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Yea, that is only in ten months' time. And Gonzi still does not know what the tariff per unit is going to be. Or does he know and is so bad that he is holding it back until after the elections? Beware! Gonzi is an expert in these devious maneuvers. The EU's report stating that electricity bills will have to go up in 2014 does mean something. The status quo cannot remain, and the PL's solid energy plan gives us hope that the tariffs will one day relent.
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This is a great article, I am impressed with Malta forging forward with this project, I do however note that there is no information regarding how Sicily is "getting along" with the project. Perhaps that is wise.
Sicily has a different time scale to everyone else.
http://englishmaninitaly.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/sicily-malta-string-and-a-little-bit-of-sticky-back-plastic/
