Enemalta may be suffering from crisis creep – a process that sees the management of the corporation slowly but surely being engulfed by one operational crisis after another.
The controversial selection of the new BWSC power station, the frequent power cuts especially in sensitive commercial areas – there was one again just last Saturday – the continuing reliance on the highly polluting and inefficient Marsa power station, and now the dispute with the suppliers of the new power station plant have shaken the faith of many in the ability of the energy utility management to move out of crisis mode.
Enemalta often misclassifies its operational problems, focusing on the technical aspects and ignoring issues of perception. It is often the public perception that highlights the crisis.
Who is to blame the public for fretting about the possible consequences of the current dispute between Enemalta and BWSC on the commissioning of the new plant?
Enemalta now expects to go ahead with the commissioning of the new equipment and hopes that the plant will become functional soon since relying on the obsolete Marsa power station plant constitutes a significant risk.
Enemalta’s latest crisis – even if it chooses to call it by some other name – revolves around the commissioning of the steam turbine that was damaged and subsequently repaired before being reinstalled in the Delimara power station.
BWSC, as the supplier, has refused to comment on this issue. So taxpayers – who ultimately are underwriting the high cost of this vital investment – can only get information on this issue from whistleblowers who may not always give accurate information, or from the corporation’s management who are not always effective in updating the public.
The crux of the repaired turbine issue revolved around whether Enemalta should accept a preliminary report by BWSC on the cause of the original fault, or should wait for a full report. Now that a more detailed report has been submitted it appears that progress on the installation of the new plant can be achieved.
This is a critical success factor as the Delimara extension is a crucial cog in the Government’s energy plans and it needs to be commissioned as soon as possible to supply electricity to the grid.
One consequence of this crisis creep is that we have to pay substantial fines imposed by the EU for keeping the polluting Marsa plant functioning.
With the completion of the interconnector facilities between Malta and Sicily still several months, if not years, away, Maltese energy consumers could be exposed to higher risks of unreliable electricity supply.
The problem faced by the general public in situations similar to the one relating to the delayed commissioning of the vital new power station plant is that usually you simply don’t know what you don’t know. There may be too little information or there may be far too much, with no way to sift out what is important.
The corporation’s media people often seem to ask the penetrating question first made famous by Groucho Marx: “Are you going to believe what you see and hear or what I am telling you?”
This is simply not good enough. The public who are financing this massive investment that is critically important to the wellbeing of families and of the economy need to be informed in simple straightforward language what risks we face in the supply of electricity in the foreseeable future.
It is time for Enemalta to move out of the current crisis mode to more stable operational management.