Malta to consider natural gas pipeline

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this evening announced Malta’s intentions to seriously start considering the installation of a natural gas pipeline.

The Prime MInister was speaking to journalist following the approval of a new energy policy by the EU at the end of a day-long summit in Brussels.

The 27 EU leaders agreed that “the EU’s internal energy market should be completed by 2014 so as to allow gas and electricity to flow freely”.

Though this declaration does not oblige Malta to have a gas pipeline, Dr Gonzi said that the new policy “opens the way so that the island will start considering this option more seriously".

He said that the government will commission a study to evaluate the possibility of installing a pipeline.

Cautioning that this project could not be done overnight, he said: “The government will now go into the details of how such a project can be conducted and study whether it is commercially worth it over the long run.”

Until now, the installation of a natural gas pipeline with either North Africa or the European system has always been shot down due to the exorbitant costs involved. In the mid-1990’s, Malta had considered the possibility of joining a pipeline which was being installed between Libya and Gela in Sicily. However, the idea was shot down by the Fenech Adami administration as the project was not considered to be commercially feasible.

The recent developments in the energy and gas sectors, with cost of oil spiralling and natural gas prices going in the opposite direction, the Prime Minister said that the time had come to reconsider this option.

“I am not saying that we are going to install this pipeline but we should look at it all over again as the situation of 20 years ago are not the same as today. Things have changed,” he said.

“We will also await more details on the EU’s energy policy as we might be in a position to tap into new EU funds to be made available specifically for these type of developments.”

Dr Gonzi said that it is imperative for the island to diversify its energy supply and not continue to be totally dependent on oil.

Malta and Cyprus are the only two EU member states completely isolated from the EU’s energy grid. A 200 Mw interconnector to be installed with Sicily by Enemalta in the coming year should make it possible for the island to start importing energy directly from the European grid. In case of excess capacity and favourable economic climate, Malta will even eventually be in a position to sell its excess energy.

Other projects include the production of energy from renewables including wind, solar and waste sources.

Apart from Energy, EU leaders always discussed the current turmoil in the Middle East, particularly in Egypt.

In a declaration, EU leaders called for an orderly transition of power in Egypt and emphasised that this should “start now”.

The EU called on the Egyptian authorities to meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people with political reform not repression.

“All parties should show restraint and avoid further violence and begin an orderly transition to a broad based government,” EU leaders declared.

“The European Council underlines that this transition must start now,” implicating that the position taken recently by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to leave in September may not be acceptable to the EU.