Interconnector could cost Enemalta its monopoly, former manager warns

Alex Buds

Jan 24th, 15:32

And so? Sounds good to me.

Philip Pryce

Jan 23rd, 20:20

If they lose their monopoly, how are they going to put money in their Swiss bank accounts? I feel so sorry for them.

James Sultana

Jan 23rd, 17:53

I don't understand why all this hype about Enemalta losing its monopoly with benefit for consumers because they can start buying cheaper electricity from another supplier. Probably they are not aware that Enemalta already lost monopoly over fuel and that a good number of petrol stations are getting their diesel from another supplier even if they sell it at the same price as Enemalta for more profit

Francis Saliba M.D.

Jan 23rd, 16:03

Monopolies are sometimes a necessary evil in a small country like Malta with its small size market economy. But let us make no bones about it, they are intirinsically "evil" by excluding a competition that, in the absence of cabals, would ensure the lowest price to the consumer.

Mr Andrew Camilleri

Jan 23rd, 15:29

The situation is that we cannot now afford to have Enemalta lose its monopoly. Otherwise, how is Enemalta going to pay its debts? This is the situation GonziPN has brought us in - that now we cannot afford to have competition in energy as otherwise hundreds of jobs will be lost and the country will face a massive debt to be paid. Imbasta dhallna fil-EU.

Mario Busuttil

Jan 23rd, 14:45

Haga wahda qieghedin ninsew ,kemm bil cable {interconnector } u kemm bil pipeline tal gas....jekk dawn jigrilhom xi hsara jew inkella mill Ewropa ma jkollomx bizzejjed energija huma ,lilna mhux ser jipprovdulna zgur....MALTA BLA ENERGIJA TIBQA...ma tistax tibbaza fuq indipendenza ta energija assoluta minn pajjizi barranin.

A Spiteri

Jan 23rd, 14:28

Interconnector could cost Enemalta its monopoly...AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?!

j brincat

Jan 23rd, 13:18

@Joe Sammut

"......... at MCAST/Imsida which the Labour Party later closed"

What say thou about the much need trade schools which were closed by dear GonziPN and which left a vacuum?

And wasn't Drydocks the entity that churned out trades by the dozen - sort of our City & Guilds!


jb

j brincat

Jan 23rd, 12:54

@Hossam Helwani

"that is the real price reduction not another power station!!!! this is the solution which lies under our noses!

AND which will take up to Y 2099 to complete (taking Mater Dei as a simple milestone)

And what would we do until then?

Insafru l-Aida, perhaps???


jb

Hossam Helwani

Jan 23rd, 12:42

that is the real price reduction not another power station!!!! this is the solution which lies under our noses!

Joe Fenech

Jan 23rd, 12:41

Didnt the PN oppose monopoly and called MLP communists. Tough luck!!! Too late to go back on your words!

j brincat

Jan 23rd, 12:28

@Kim Borg

"If this is the level of decision making individuals at Enemalta, no wonder they are in so much debt...2

Some €800 million to be exact!

Cheers.



jb

j brincat

Jan 23rd, 12:26

@Joe Sammut

"With a capital outlay of €5,000 I am having an average of TEN units per day from 12 panels, with a €3.000 subsidy."

Therefore, do you use this excess solar energy to lit candles!


jb

Kim Borg

Jan 23rd, 12:06

If this is the level of decision making individuals at Enemalta, no wonder they are in so much debt...

Joe Sammut

Jan 23rd, 12:00

Profs Pule’ , you were my Electrical Eng. lecturer at MCAST/Imsida which the Labour Party later closed.

With a capital outlay of €5,000 I am having an average of TEN units per day from 12 panels, with a €3.000 subsidy.

Practically we don’t pay electricity bills.

This works out to 2Kw hrs per €1000 .

Maurice Debono was my maths lecturer , bless his soul.

Norman Grech

Jan 23rd, 12:00

Strange to say that Mr Pace that through the interconnector Enemalta will lose its momopoly .but thats exactly what the PL will be doing he will be get the private sector to invest in a new power station!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alex Ellul

Jan 23rd, 11:56

Ing. John Pace should be given a consultant's job when JM becomes PM.

Victor Pace

Jan 23rd, 11:55

John Pace has been most critical of Austin Gatt. Wishing something was different does not make it change; one makes things work by thinking through the detail. If a viable solution can be found to these problems, great, but ignore them at your peril. We have been told water prices are too low in Malta. Competition might not bring prices down as much as people think.

W. Cassar

Jan 23rd, 11:48

Prices come down with economies of scale, competition does not always work when the market is small!

*Joseph Brincat

Jan 23rd, 11:34

The Ragusa Council expects to be paid a sum of not less than € 600,000 by Malta.
and the bet goes on

Victor Pace

Jan 23rd, 11:20

I think people are missing the point here. If Enemalta loses its monopoly and goes bust, the costs of servicing the debts would have to be factored into the savings made, totally changing the equation. Competition is good when demand can sustain it, but in a small island capital intensive industries can be too small to survive.

E. Azzopardi

Jan 23rd, 11:17

Why not? Aren't we in a competitive market? And the sooner the better.

Carmelo Aquilina

Jan 23rd, 11:10

Good about time !

E Schembri

Jan 23rd, 11:06

That's very good news!!

Monopolies only provide inefficient, shabby and over priced services. I am sure we have all learnt this by now.

The only way to bring around efficient and good electricity service is to bring in the competition.

I say, BRING IT ON!

Tony Agius

Jan 23rd, 11:05

IT's simple clear that this is NOT a warning, but a SIMPLE CONFUSED STATEMENT, to CREATE confusion.
No thanks for this Mr. Pace.

S Portelli

Jan 23rd, 10:55

Good that it loose its monopoly. Like benna, go mobile, drydocks ti would restructure its operation and consumers will be better.

Ethelbert Schembri

Jan 23rd, 10:31

So Enemalta entered in to yet another huge investment making it's debt problem worse just to loose it's Electrical market ???
Enemalta pays, or better we pay so that others enjoy this investment and we keep on paying! This is smelling a bit fishy too !!
It is more than clear that with the PN Enemalta is doomed to close down throwing our economy in to a deep recession.

Mario Camilleri

Jan 23rd, 10:25

That is liberalization, which is the European way and that's the way forward.

@Tarcisio Bonello,

The only problem in Malta is that issues are related to interpretation. Competition in Malta means that prices do not go down by they go up like the Easygas and Liquigas because since they took over the LPG gas cylinders have increased by 4 times as much. So competition here is not in line with EU.

j brincat

Jan 23rd, 10:17

@Neville Roberts

"Isn't the days of Monopolies over? Enemalta may suffer but the consumer will gain regardless of which Government is in Power"

The laws of economics so dictate!

But here it's all topsy turvy!!!

The government liberalises and the commodity shoots up - gas cylinders as an example, bus fares. postage bank charges etc

jb

Tarcisio Bonello

Jan 23rd, 10:08

Exactly - Enemalta should NOT be a Monopoly - in that way there will be competition which would normally bring prices down. Furthermore I wish it could be possible that I personally would be able to choose where I personally could purchase my electricity from. The way Enemalta treats its clients leaves a lot to be desired and I'd rather go shopping somewhere else.

Neville Roberts

Jan 23rd, 10:04

Isn't the days of Monopolies over? Enemalta may suffer but the consumer will gain regardless of which Government is in Power.

j brincat

Jan 23rd, 10:04

@Mario Tabone

Mr Pace is talking about EneMalta and its monopoly but the truth is that at the other end of the interconnector there can also be competition on who will.....

There's a snug in case you have not noticed.

That here everything works the other way round.

We liberalise a commodity and hey presto the price shoots up - take the gas cylinders as an example!


jb

W. Cassar

Jan 23rd, 10:03

Whatever route that is taken PN or PL, the energy sector is set to change with private entities entering the market. One has to be naive to think that energy prices will go down after say 10 years or remain the same. There has to be proper competition in this sector, Enemalta can't compete as it is today with its debt. If we are not careful we will have another situation like the gas sector.

V. Cauchi

Jan 23rd, 10:01

On this monopoly business: I think opening up to competition is more deleterious for our small island economy than having a monopoly. In communications, different rates sold by different companies have cut social contact considerably within some age and income groups, as have TV company program offers. Would subscribing to a new company affect a smart meter which has been already installed?

Lawrence Fenech

Jan 23rd, 09:58

Mhux tajjeb xi trid aktar Enemalta, 800,0000,000 dejn u skandlu fl'arja. Fejn hemm il-monopolju tinzera il-korruzjoni, ghalek dhalna fl'EU biex mhux kullhadd jghamel li irid.

Pule' Carmel

Jan 23rd, 09:55

In my estimation if Malta had 300 million euros to invest in electric generation I believe the preferences would be.
1. Cable to Sicily
2.New local powerstation
3.Renovate/redesign what we have.
4.Wind power.
But if 300 Million were to be invested inSolar Panels, well that would be great during sunny days.Just work it out one kilowatt for 1000 euros. Not so reliable if the sky throws ice balls

Jesmond Chetcuti

Jan 23rd, 09:47

I am sorry to say that there is no competition in the energy sector, nowhere..companies just create cartels..as soon as one raises their prices the other will follow suit after a week or 2..just enough time to robe the other companies clients..that's what happens in the UK..in the past 5 years electricity prices has gone up over 100%....

Raphael Dingli

Jan 23rd, 09:41

Maybe the government should consider splitting Enemalta into two parts. One part to run and maintain the infrastructure and a second part to sell the electricity on a commercial basis - providing the opportunity for a second company to compete with Enemalta ( the second part) i . This will contribute to lower prices for consumers.
It happened in Australia with the Telstra. Competition is good.

Edward Mallia

Jan 23rd, 09:33

Come to think of it in that sorry document called Proposal for an Energy Policy just issued by MRRA, there is a single sentence mentioning the possibility of tapping Ren. Energy electricity from non-EU sources via the Sicily Interconnector. I suspect the source in the mind of the writer is the vast Sahara PV project, designed to export power to Europe. No loss of monopoly here either.

Mario Tabone

Jan 23rd, 09:21

Mr Pace is talking about EneMalta and its monopoly but the truth is that at the other end of the interconnector there can also be competition on who will actually provide EneMalta with electricity. That can only mean good news .
I can now undestand why Mr Pace is an ex manager !!!!

George Cutajar

Jan 23rd, 09:21

Big deal. Enemalta will loose it's monopoly even with Labour's proposal. One simply fails to understand what Mr. Pace is really at and what sudden interest is driving him to make these statements.

Edward Mallia

Jan 23rd, 09:17

@ D. Axisa Why must my name be taken in vain by every politician and his dog? The demand made on the IC will depend on the minimum usage agreed upon (as yet unknown). 70% of demand = ~1610GWh. A 200MW IC operated flat out for 8760hr (=1 year) will give ~1750GWh. That's pushing it a bit. Is that heavy dependence on one source wise? Don't know.Plenty of Mallia in Sicily. They might know.

Antoine Vella

Jan 23rd, 09:13

So? What's the fuss about? If we have the interconnector we won't need the derogation.

Labour is also proposing to remove the Enemalta monopoly and creat a quasi-monopoly for a private contractor.

Mr Anthony Briffa

Jan 23rd, 09:09

This Mr Pace is a bit confused and should know better before writing. It is true Ene Malta will be buying power from third parties, but it is it which has the distribution facilities. Similiarly with the PL's proposal Ene Malta will be buying the power from a private supplier and still do the distribution. Mr. Pace's point in all this butting in as retired engineer from Ene Malta is very unclear.

Charles J. Buttigieg

Jan 23rd, 09:02

Enemalta is not a State Monopoly,it's just the only service provider. Any mad person in Malta can be granted a permit to invest in a power station. And then we'll have more overhead cable to further embellish our streets.

Albert Bonello

Jan 23rd, 08:55

I don't think Mr Pace knows what he is saying, as far as I can understand it will still be Enemalta who controls d interconnector & not the private. It is only the electricity itself that will be supplied by third parties in the same way that we would have to purchase oil and/or gas to fire our electrical turbines. Having said this it is clear that Mr. Pace's only intention is to create confusion!

Edward Mallia

Jan 23rd, 08:51

Enemalta has already lost its GENERATION monopoly given the "large" amount of private PV power. It retains its distribution network one.
The prospect of INDIVIDUAL consumers being able to buy from European or even non-European sources is a distant one. The EU death sentence on Marsa -- ignored by John Pace's Enemalta for so long -- has left us with little option to "fast" remedies like the IC.

ray mond

Jan 23rd, 08:39

As far as I now Enemalta has the only infrastructure to distribute electricity in Malta! So wouldn’t the power supply of the interconnector have to go through Enemalta??? baring in mind that Enemalta was given monopoly on electricity supply in Malta through derogation in 2006! SO Isn't Enemalta the only responsible party to buy electricity through interconnector !

j schembri

Jan 23rd, 08:37

can i ask a question, does that mean that enemalta will go down because it will have competition now? and if it goes down, oops its debt is guranteed by the Maltese Government, i.e. maltese people!!! bye bye finanzi fis sod nahseb imbaghad hux, kollha jkollna nerfaw l piz mall gvern jahasra hux!!

Justin Spiteri

Jan 23rd, 08:33

Is that not a good thing?. I thought we were out of the socialist era....

Neil Dent

Jan 23rd, 08:30

John Pace again? The man DEFINITELY has an axe to grind. The interconnector is essential - proposed and actioned by the PN, and accepted by the PL within its own energy proposals (love 'em or hate 'em).

Mr ALBERT LEONE GANADO

Jan 23rd, 08:29

Eliminating monopolies whether of the state or of commercial entities always makes good economic sense. Let us hope that a number of foreign companies will get interested in selling us energy over the inter connector. . It is time that electricity and water generation are separated from the power distribution and supply network. It is also time the fuel supply at the pumps to be also deregulated.

I Bugeja

Jan 23rd, 08:29

It might not be good.

If there is another competitor good bye subsidies on electricity due to unfair competition. This may result in the removal of extra overheads which is good (hence we would save money as Enemalta would operate with less loss or no loss at all) but if the cost for the extra overheads is loaded onto the customers then it is trouble.

Leslie Darmanin

Jan 23rd, 08:21

What perverse thinking.

That Labour wants to sell off the whole energy sector to one company and thus render Enemalta irrelevant is OK for Mr Pace.. But introducting competition, that's a no go.

The only way to ever bring prices down IS through competition.

Labour's plan is simply a 10-year agreement with a private company to keep prices artificially low, in return for an indefinite monopoly.

G. Borg

Jan 23rd, 08:21

Bring on the competition than, it's about time all monopolies are history !!

Christian Grech

Jan 23rd, 08:19

And why shouldn't it be that way?

Mr G Naudi

Jan 23rd, 08:16

Dear Mr.John Pace how come you decided to ASSUME now and not before. Please leave assumptions out of such a sensitive topic. I could win the Super 5 if I play, but it does not mean I will play. I could get hit by a car if I try to cross a road, but you still cross a road. I can assume that you are saying this for political reasons, which I cold be wrong.

Jim Harvey

Jan 23rd, 08:11

Good news for the Maltese consumer then!

Roderick Micallef

Jan 23rd, 08:10

GOOD Mr. Pace,
Hopefully like that Enemalta will start looking at being more competitive and offer a better service in general. After all doesn't the EU mean no monopolies? In my opinion the only people that should be worried are those that stand to benefit and in this case they are not the general public for sure. We still don't know how the fuel is purchased as these documents are not public!

D Axisa

Jan 23rd, 08:10

Yesterday i heard Mr. Claudio Grech on Bondi+ state that when the interconnector is in place, 70% of power generation will be coming from this interconnector. Is this right to have our power generation dependent on ONE source. Maybe Dr.Edward Mallia can illuminate us more on this.

Rita Vella

Jan 23rd, 08:09

And when was monopoly a good thing for the consumer Mr. Pace ?

Maria Vassallo

Jan 23rd, 08:05

So what, Mr. Pace?
That is not your business.

Joe Tabone

Jan 23rd, 08:00

Sour grapes perhaps...........................!!!!