Israeli company files power station protest - calls for fair evaluation of bids

Bateman Litwin, the Israeli company whose bid for the power station extension was rejected, today filed a judicial protest calling on the government, Enemalta and the Director of Contracts not to award the contract to the preferred bidder BWSC.

Bateman insisted that its equipment, which operated on diesel or gas, was the cheapest, its technology was the cleanest and the unit cost of electricity from its plant when using gas, would also be lowest.

The Israeli company said the rival bid was considerably more expensive both with regard to capital costs as well as the cost for its eventual conversion from heavy fuel oil to gas. Although diesel fuel was more expensive than heavy fuel oil, the latter was the most polluting fossil fuel, the firm said.

Bateman rejected claims that unit costs would be cheaper through the use of the rival plant, arguing that the cost per kilowatt hour was 15% cheaper in a gas-operated power station than from power stations which used heavy fuel oil, of which a greater volume was needed.

The only comparison which the Enemalta consultants had made was between power stations which operated on heavy fuel oil and on diesel, the company said.

Bateman also insisted that its plant would take up considerably less space at Delimara and produce less emissions.

The company said the tendering process had lacked equality and fair play, and an internal e-mail sent by the adjudicating committee head to other Enemalta officials showed that in November last year, Enemalta had already decided to drop its bid, but when it drew attention to the e-mail, which it received by mistake, it was included in the short list.

The company said that although the rival bid would produce 90 tons of waste every day, including toxic waste, no environment impact assessment had been made and the Maltese people were kept in the dark on what was going on.

The company therefore called on the authorities not to award the tender to BWSC and to conduct a proper analysis of the bids.