The planned floating storage tanks at Delimara would create a “significant impact” on the character of the landscape and visual outlook of Marsaxlokk Bay that would be “difficult to eliminate”, according to Mepa’s environment protection unit.
It has therefore requested a detailed landscaping scheme including “camouflaging, design of structures and materials, colour treatments and textural finishes to aid integration with the surroundings and minimise the impacts”.
On the other hand there are no “significant concerns”, from a landscape and visual point of view, over the location of the planned gas power station in Delimara, according to the unit.
The Environment Protection Directorate was reacting to an environment impact assessment (EIA) report on the project.
The proposed power plant consists of a combined cycle gas turbine made up of four separate units – three gas turbines and a steam turbine – which will be fuelled with natural gas and have a capacity of 215 megawatts.
Gas will be stored in liquid form at -162 ˚C in a floating storage unit.
There will be three 75-metre stacks and another three measuring 30 metres which will be used whenever the steam turbine is out of action.
The highly controversial project – crucial to the Labour government’s electoral promise of reducing electricity bills – has been met with criticism from environmentalists, residents of Marsaxlokk and Birżebbuġa and the Opposition.
One of the main concerns is the risk created by storing the fuel in the middle of the bay.
However, the directorate clarified it was concerned only with the environmental implications, without prejudice to any other considerations such as evaluation of safety risks, navigation and port management issues.
The EIA was carried out by consultants commissioned by the government as part of the planning process.
It looked at the impacts on the surrounding areas, the geology and the marine ecology as well as the effects on the health of Marsaxlokk residents and those of surrounding villages.
The directorate said it acknowledged that the main justifications for the project were based on EU environment and energy commitments, the national energy policy and economic considerations.
The project was also created following a policy decision to have base-load electricity sourced from an independently owned, high-efficiency power plant powered by natural gas by 2015.
It also would reduce air pollution and the new plant would be more efficient in fuel use and energy efficiency.
Camouflage, design of structures and materials, colour treatments and textural finishes needed to aid integration with the surroundings
In its comments, the directorate said the impact report predicted a number of potential impacts on the environment – of these some were listed as of “high significance”.
Even though mitigation measures were put forward, “impacts on the landscape character and visual amenity of the Delimara peninsula, Marsaxlokk and Birżebbuġa are of high significance and cannot be effectively mitigated”, it said.
In agreement with the impact report, it recommended that a nautical risk assessment and a harbour risk assessment needed to be carried out “to the satisfaction” of the relevant authorities such as Transport Malta, Operational Health and Safety Authority and the Civil Protect-ion Department.
The directorate also called for a more detailed quantitative risk assessment to determine the establishment of risk zones around the Delimara power station complex and prevention and minimisation of risk under international law.
The risk assessment must also list contingency measures in case of different types of emergencies, including major accidents, together with necessary harbour management plans and emergency procedures.
Aside from a number of mitigation measures listed in the report, which should be included as part of the permit, the directorate also recommended further monitoring of air quality as well as of noise and the marine environment.
The construction phase works need to be addressed in a comprehensive construction management plan, the direc-torate said.
The power plant is a major plank of Labour’s electoral campaign with a pledge to reduce tariffs by 25 per cent by March.
It will be operated by the consortium Electrogas Malta.