Gas plant will improve air quality if energy demand stays the same

Better air quality from the new 215-megawatt gas plant at Delimara will only be possible if energy demand does not increase over and above current levels.

An environmental impact assessment, compiled by ERSLI a consultant chosen directly by the government, and published by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, says that a better use of the Malta-Sicily electricity interconnector would further improve air quality, apart from closing down the Marsa power station.

The new power station will include three 75-metre chimneys, and three 30-metre-high chimneys, and that visual impacts will be mainly affected at the Kavalerizza and Tal-Papa housing estate areas, which will have a direct view of the LNG container ship.

The new gas plant is part of the Labour government's plan to drastically reduce energy bills by using liquefied natural gas that will pass through a regasification unit at Delimara. The private consortium Electrogas, which includes West African multinational Gasol plc and Azerbaijani state-owned company SOCAR, will build the new plant and supply the LNG.

"Making more use of the interconnector and reducing the use of the proposed plant may result in less environmental impact, but such a decision is not only taken on the environmental impact but on a range of other considerations including but not limited to economic issues," the EIA coordinator says.

According to the EIA, emission targets for both nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) can only be met "under the assumption of extensive use of the 'clean" electricity from both the interconnector and the gas-fired units at Delimara."

Under Labour's original plans, the energy mix would only include 25% of the interconnector's electricity supply.

Additionally, the EIA makes it clear that air quality targets can only be reached if energy demand does not increase over current levels.

Compliance with Malta's commitment under the Gothenburg protocol - which regulates EU emissions targets - an be reached under the assumption that the electricity demand by 2020 "does not exceed current levels" and that this can be met using the interconnector and the two gas-fired units at Delimara, with the diesel-fired units serving only as emergency backup.

The EIA says the shift from heavy fuel oil to LNG will deliver overall positive health impacts for the population, mainly due to the closure of the Marsa power station - something already foreseen when the Malta-Sicily interconnector was approved by the previous administration.

The EIA coordinators failed to answer conservationist NGO Din l-Art Helwa's question on the expected utilisation rates of the proposed combined-cycle gas plant (CCGT) plant, the interconnector, and the rest of the Delimara plants from 2015 to 2020.

This information will be made available at a later stage when MEPA will issue an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit for the Delimara plant.

The EIA reveals that the Floating Storage Unit will need to discharge ballast water into Marsaxlokk Bay during the uploading of the LNG.

On the other hand an improvement in water quality at il-Ħofra ż-Żgħira, the discharge area behind Delimara, suggesting that the discharge of cooling waters used for the turbine will be reduced, but that residual chlorine used as a biocide will remain the same.