Independent appeals board for Delimara gas plant project

An independent board will listen to any appeals by bidders in Enemalta's call for an expression of interest for a power purchase agreement and a gas suuply agreement, energy minister Konrad Mizzi said this evening in Parliament.

"In order to guarantee transparency and make sure that the best entity is chosen, whoever finds an objection at the Expression of Interest and Capability stage and wants to appeal can do so not only in Court, an institution which the government has complete trust, but also in front of an appeals board," Mizzi said.

He explained that the board will be "autonomous and independent" and will offer bidders a chance to appeal if they are not satisfied with Enemalta's decision in the award of the long term power purchase agreement and gas supply agreement. He added that the board will be granted full legal powers and Enemalta would submit itself to the board's jurisdiction.

The decision was welcomed by former finance minister and Mizzi's nemesis during the electoral campaign, Tonio Fenech, who said that the Opposition had been calling for this mechanism to provide bidders another option beyond the Courts.

However, Fenech asked, why the appeals procedure was not being referred to the Contracts Department, which had "the necessary experience in such matters and is widely respected." Fenech also asked why the adjudication of the gas power plant was exempt from the EU's procurement regulations.

He said this was necessary since the the call for expressions of interest involved a mixed contract where more than one procurement was required, with the chosen company constructing a power plant, a re-gassification plant and storage tanks, among others.

"You are still in time to make amends before committing a serious mistake," Fenech told the energy minister.  

In reply, Mizzi retorted: "We will certainly not follow the example set during the purchase of the BWSC Delimara power plant extension, where the contract was awarded to a company found on the Yellow Pages and where the whole process was blighted with shortcomings."

Following a series of questions posed to Mizzi by MPs from both sides of the House, Mizzi said that the Attorney General had advised him that since the Delimara gas power plant contract was exempt from the procurement regulations, there was no need to involve the public procurement board.

He confirmed that if an appeal was lodged the process would be temporarily suspended and if the appeal is upheld the bidder would be reintroduced in the process.

Mizzi also said that a new Environmental Impact Assessment would be carried out and promised that all stakeholders including local councils, residents' associations  and the fishing community would be involved in the consultation process.

In his statement, Mizzi explained that 19 companies, including multinational energy giants have submitted a bid to construct the new gas power plant in Delimara.

Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company Shell, Italian company Edison, CPECC, the largest corporation for electric power planning and engineering in China and Russian giant Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas and one of the largest companies in the world, are among the 19 bids submitted.

Companies were invited to register their interest and submit outline proposals for the supply of natural gas and electricity to Enemalta under a long-term gas supply and power purchase agreement.