Government 'failed to act' on Enemalta warning
Rather than investing in Enemalta to prevent a power cut like the one that immobilised the island last week, the Prime Minister had chosen to shock the nation by raising electricity tariffs, the Labour Party said.
In a prompt reaction, the government said it was constantly investing in Enemalta and accused Labour of trying to win public sympathy by ignoring the millions of euros being injected into a more efficient system.
The PL noted that in 2006 Enemalta's generation plan report had identified the lack of spare generating capacity as a weak spot that might have serious consequences as from this summer. "Action has to be taken to reduce the peak demand or to acquire additional generating capacity before this date," Enemalta had said in 2006.
Despite this warning, the government failed to take the necessary action to stop the power cut that froze the country for several hours and cost an estimated €8 to €10 million, Labour charged. The government countered that the 2006 report was the same document Enemalta was implementing now to improve the electricity system. This plan, which catered for the generation and distribution of electricity, factored in a higher demand. It also looked into efficient equipment and the reduction of the environmental impact.
The government had already invested €165 million in the new Delimara power plant, installed smart meters throughout the island and implemented the new billing and customer relationship management system, it said. Last Tuesday, two lengthy power cuts hit both islands. The first occurred at 10.30 a.m. and the second at 4 p.m. Enemalta engineers later established the location of the fault to be one of the turbines at Marsa.
An investigation carried out by Enemalta is expected to be concluded on Friday.
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Galea. L
Jun 24th 2009, 19:10
J Martinelli
Are you now, from far-away Canada, going to contradict the 2006 report by Enemalta itself, that if the Government does not invest in generation capacity we shall start having power cuts as from this summer?
What do you call it when a turbine supplying less than 10% of the demand trips and a domino effect follows leaving all Malta and Gozo without power fro more than 7 hours?
It is you who are trying to manipulate and misinform the public because if a turbine supplying less than 10% of the demand drops out it should not have resulted in the tripping of all the other turbines if they were not running at their maximum capacity with no reserve whatsoever.
I pity you for your thinking that we cannot add 1+1 in your pitiful and useless attempts to defend your incompetent and arrogant Gonzi for not making the necessary investment notwithstanding the exorbitant rates that we pay in Malta.
J Oatmon
Jun 24th 2009, 16:42
I find the Enemalta bills very confusing, and then there are other things like the estimated consumption - why estimate when I am home anytime they want to read my meter.
Another thing is this eco -reduction can anyone explain this for a 2 person home what is the effect, how is it calculated? For me Enemalta is definitely not transparent and it's bills are hard to fathom.
J Martinelli
Jun 24th 2009, 15:56
Typical misinformation coming from the Labour Party.
As already reported, the power cut had absolutely nothing to do with capacity. As a matter of fact the consumption at the time of the power failure was some 130 megawatts less than the peak capacity of the two stations.
If a boiler fails, then the turbine fails and the sudden loss of output unbalances the grid and the whole system goes down. If that were not the case, then by simple deduction, the Delimara plant could have supplied at least parts of Malta and Gozo.
The Labour Party should be the last to comment on the power situation in Malta since it was hardly involved in the construction of the Marsa station in the 50s or the Delimara plant in the late 80s. Instead, it should drop its opposition to wind turbines and other proposed alternative sources of energy and contribute in a positive manner in speeding up the process.