Reducing bills through power station conversion will take years - ministry

pat muscat

Sep 24th 2012, 14:07

'Power Station conversion to gas would take years'; ahseb u ara l-ewwel tkun kontra, taharbat dawk l-miljuni kollha(+4 miljuni commission) u wara li tara d-dawl, u tammetti li ghamilt froga: twahhal f'haddiehor!

j brincat

Sep 24th 2012, 08:29

"The Finance Ministry said today that statements by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat that electricity bills would be reduced thanks to the conversion of the power station to use gas meant that this promise could not be kept in the next five years"

Let for argument's sake say that it is so (which I doubt) did GonziPN keep his solemn promise to reduce tax. This was was supposed to have come into effect as at 1st January 2009!

So the PN is not in a position to talk much!

They think that we are either fools or else have a short memory!



(jb)

.

M. Attard

Sep 24th 2012, 06:09

If the Minister is so aware of all aspects, why he didn't do it in the first place long time ago.

Anthony Arpa

Sep 24th 2012, 06:07

I wonder how a Power Station can works out cheaper (And Safer for those working in such a plant) with Gas .This when even a simple gas silinder we use at home to cook is as so expensive ...

Jonathan Gauci

Sep 24th 2012, 00:39

Dear Ministry,
a plan is called a plan because it by definition it requires time, the bigger the plan, the longer the time.

Regardless of what PL is saying, its nice knowing that our ministry plans with 5 yr chunks for votes rather than the greater good of the nation, and wasting its time discrediting other people's plans rather than work on your own bloody energy plans!

It is by requirement of all that is democratic and good in this world that civil roles and institutions such as the ministries are not politically affiliated. PL should be discredited by PN not by the ministry.

Nicholas Grech

Sep 23rd 2012, 23:58

The gas pipeline would already be in place if someone had not opted for heavy fuel oil instead.

Ronnie Callus

Sep 23rd 2012, 22:40

Allura Sur.Ministru, int xghamilt jew xqed taghmel biex tara li l-Power Station tahdem binqas tniggies, XEJN !!!!! jew qed tistenna l-bajtra taqa f'halqek. Kull bidu fih it-tmiem, ahjar milli ma' taghmel xejn. Dan il--pajjiz ghalhekk dak li gralu ghax hallejtu kollox aghar rihu u tghidu li kollox miexi sewwa, kif ukoll li ma'tajtux kaz il-karba tan-nies. Kollox taghkom tajjeb u ta' haddiehor le. Din bhal ta' zmien Mintoff li kontu tghidulu kif tista Malta timxi waheda minghajr l-Inglizi anzi flok ghamiltu kuragg lin-nies ghamiltu hafna bsaten fir-roti lil Amministrazzjoni ta' Mintoff billi geltu lil hafna biex ma' jinvestux f'pajjizna, barra l-bombi li kienu jsiru. Kienu kwazi saru l-ordni tal-gurnata. Nisperaw li mhiex se' tintuza l-istess tattika ma' Joseph Muscat ukoll biex taqtu qalb in-nies.Kieku hallejtuh immexxi lil Mintoff kien jghamel wisq aktar milli aghmel ma' l-icken haddiem. Saru affarijiet li lanqas qatt kontu toholmu bihom u anke ivvutajtu kontrihom fil-parlament. Inthom hattulna l-festi li jahbtu f'xi weekends bli skuza biex tghola il-prodduttiva, imma mghidthux li l-kbir se' jibqalu aktar fil-butt.

Peter Shaw

Sep 23rd 2012, 22:34

A Magic Wand can work wonders :))

Pierre Fenech

Sep 23rd 2012, 21:59

Eh are you kidding PL? The priorities when choosing the power station was not the way it was going to be operated but the way those members of the clique who could get the most financial benefit out of such lucrative contract. Of course PN does not want to loose the general election at all cost..... That is because the worst hit will be the few who get every govt contract, those who get loads of money in consultancies even if they give the wrong advise (prob they would be given other consultancies) etc etc etc no wonder many ex PN supporters are thinking on these lines. Malta needs a clean up sooner rather then later.

Robert Callus

Sep 23rd 2012, 20:29

Because the PL are right on the lack of credibility of the PN and the power station, it doesn't mean electricity bills will be going down. At least not in the next legislature.

While it is good to plan in the long run - AD has been calling for such measures since its existence - since PL has tied this issue with it's reluctance to increase the minimum wage, the short run is also very important.

In other words, people who can't make ends meet because of their miserable wage, will not see a decrease in their electricity bills either.

J Martinelli

Sep 23rd 2012, 20:00

Joseph Muscat continues to unashamedly misrepresent facts.
He ignores the fact that time constraints in closing down the Marsa PS could not possibly wait for a gas pipeline to be planned for, approved and funding put in place to finance it. Not taking the interim step of building of the Delimara extension would have meant that either the Marsa PS be kept on (addio the black dust issue) and pay hefty fines imposed by the EU, or close it down and have a period of five or so years with a deficient supply and the forced freezing of any new manufacturing plants already in the pipeline, not to say anything about brownouts and the inability to switch on air conditioners during the sweltering months of summer.
The other issue he raised was the timing of building the extension, gas or no gas, HFO or not, in spite of all the roadblocks thrown about by the Labour Party because their 'favourite' bidder did not win the contract. They would have used the same tactics anyway, gas fired or HFO. Plan 'B' SARGAS came later.
That leads us to the question of 'credibility', something that was very unwise for Joseph to have touched upon. That is because during the sixteen 'golden years' of his favourite predecessors' rule, not even a thought was given to replacing the only power station (Marsa) at the time with a more larger and modern plant capable of delivering enough energy to meet the demand. Frequent power cuts were the norm and having an interrupted supply for two consecutive days would have made headline news.
Ditto for the lack of plain tap water unless delivered by water tankers, just like some remote village in the depth of a third world country.

Credibility, Joseph?

francis x caruana

Sep 23rd 2012, 19:38

mr minister. At least if this will be the case at lwe still have something to look foward to. what have you been waiting for to take action before. now that election is on our doorstep we start to do something. the earlier you go the better. we have suffered enough under gonzi pn. enough is enough now.....quote your own parlametary group

D. A . Agius

Sep 23rd 2012, 19:35

Well , for practical reasons, a gas fired power station needs its fuel source available.

Shipping it seems not to be practical, so in that casea pipeline is the only avenue. I guess (I am not an expert here) Ministry is quite right to say this could take 5 years+.

PL did not address the critique items in Ministry's response. Crying over spilt milk (HFO fired Power station) is useless now. It's there.

Firing it with diesel will probably cost a lot more than HFO, so we can forget it. Gas firing will take time and whilst PL can try to accelerate it as much as it can (if in government), it's much easier to talk that to act (especially if a government is still finding his feet).

Pity is, PL should have pushed for a referendum, probably the only way they could have changed or had any say in the decision. Maybe Franco could have had something constructive done (vote against? not exactly but it's a start) rather than saving the party that he now seems to want to bring down, and could have spared some of the theatrics.

Ethelbert Schembri

Sep 23rd 2012, 19:22

There are more than one option to have a gas supply for the power station. One is the mentioned gas pipeline, second is a storage of gas near the power station like we had in Qajjenza, and third is a system where gas is stored in ships and they supply directly the plant !! The Minister know this very well !!!
The Minister should also know that the BWSC plant is a huge catastrophe when it comes to be converted, it can hardly be converted from heavy fuel oil to diesel more over to gas !!
The PN knew this for years but did nothing and we will have to pay for that.
Now that the PL are coming up with a good strategic energy plan, the PN is trying to distort fact and trying to atribute their failure on to the PL !! NO WAY!! The PN failed big time and the people know that !!

S.M. Cuschieri

Sep 23rd 2012, 19:13

i honestly will NOT succumb to the PL's promises.........what do they think we are? blissfully gullible??

Ethelbert Schembri

Sep 23rd 2012, 19:12

There are more than one option to have a gas supply for the power station. One is the mentioned gas pipeline, second is a storage of gas near the power station like we had in Qajjenza, and third is a system where gas is stored in ships and they supply directly the plant !! The Minister know this very well !!!
The Minister should also know that the BWSC plant is a huge catastrophe when it comes to be converted, it can hardly be converted from heavy fuel oil to diesel more over to gas !!
The PN knew this for years but did nothing and we will have to pay for that.
Now that the PL are coming up with a good strategic energy plan, the PN is trying to distort fact and trying to atribute their failure on to the PL !! NO WAY!! The PN failed big time and the people know that !!

S Scerri

Sep 23rd 2012, 18:35

Kemm ghandhom nuqqas t' gharfien f' din it- teknologija il- gvern nazzjonalista. Harsa lejn x' qed jghamlu l- girien taghna fuq energija alternattiva hi bizejjed biex il- poplu jinduna kemm qed jghaffgu f' dan is- settur. Gzira zghira u ballun nar jizreg fuq rasna tant li l- krema li ndellku kontra x-xemx mhux bizejjed. Jien inhaddem id- dar kollha mix-xemx u nbiegh li jifdalli lil enemalta. Wake up Hon. Minister !

Charles Cremona

Sep 23rd 2012, 17:36

Muscat would be more credible with the electorate if he got the facts before he starts promising the earth. Converting the power station to gas would cost many millions of Euros, if as looks likely we lose our objective 1 status after 2014 we will not get EU subsides anymore and we haven't got the sort of money for such an expensive project.

Joseph Micallef

Sep 23rd 2012, 17:21

As if I'm going to believe Tonio Fenech's ministry. How can I believe the clique if the same clique approved the biggest, most scandalous, most dirty, most environmentally unfriendly, most hazardous and most of all, a prototype power station? Time is up for you Tonio Fenech & Co., I can't believe you, in anything.

Aaron Vella

Sep 23rd 2012, 16:49

Another election is near, and Labour is starting to show its true colours again... Wonderful. Keep it up!