After a marathon eight-hour session, the planning authority yesterday approved plans for gas facilities and a power station to be built at Delimara.
With nine votes in favour and two against, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board approved the two applications submitted by Enemalta.
The two votes against came from Nationalist Party representative Ryan Callus and Alex Vella, the representative of environment groups.
Both insisted they were not comfortable approving a proposal to have an LNG floating storage unit inside Marsaxlokk Bay when a maritime impact assessment had still to be done and other studies were still of a preliminary nature.
The facility will only become operational after Mepa issues an environmental permit at a later stage
A motion moved by Mr Callus and seconded by Mr Vella for the Mepa board to postpone its decision was defeated.
The well-attended meeting at the Mediterranean Conference Centre started at 10 am and went on without stopping until 6pm.
Although on the whole the meeting proceeded very calmly, insults were shouted from the crowd when representatives of the PN spoke.
The meeting began with Mepa chairman Vince Cassar reading out a letter sent by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who noted that the government was considering the project to be one of national strategic importance (see box on right).
This meant that if Mepa granted approval, work would start on the project irrespective of whether an appeal was filed.
Yesterday’s approval means that infrastructural work on the power station, re-gassificator and jetty can now start but the facility will only become operational after Mepa issues the IPPC permit – an environmental permit – at a later stage.
Enemalta project leader David Galea said the development was necessary to ensure cleaner air, cut the corporation’s operating costs and ensure electricity rates were competitive.
Characterised by interventions from various experts, politicians, residents and fishermen, most of the arguments put forward were a rerun of the public debate that has been going on over the past few months.
One new development was the results of maritime traffic simulation exercises undertaken by Transport Malta that showed how the location of the LNG floating storage unit would not hamper shipping movements inside Marsaxlokk Bay.
Captain David Bugeja, a harbour master, said he foresaw no need for any activity inside Marsaxlokk Bay to stop while the FSU was being refuelled by a second LNG carrier despite the maritime corridor being narrower.
When asked about the maritime impact assessment, Mr Bugeja insisted the nautical studies that had still to be done were of an operational nature linked to the way the LNG ship would be manoeuvred inside the port.
The lack of a maritime impact study was raised by various speakers throughout the hearing, not least Nationalist Party president Anne Fenech, who said she was representing the interests of Ray Bugeja, a fisherman who filed a judicial protest last week against the Mepa board.
Most arguments put forward were a rerun of the public debate
She argued that the study was a necessity and should take into consideration all maritime traffic, including fishing boats.
But the biggest bone of contention was the location of the LNG storage facility inside the port, with some residents and PN exponents insisting it should be moored outside.
Mr Galea said the offshore option was ruled out early on in the planning phase because of the relatively new technology involved to have a combined storage and re-gassificator unit, the problems it created with security of supply due to a possibility of bad weather and the disruption of economic activity at Hurd’s Bank, which is currently used for bunkering purposes.
Carmelo Bugeja, a fisherman, also objected to the use of Hurd’s Bank, saying it would have a negative impact on small-scale fishermen who used the area to ply their trade.
But the arguments for locating the LNG terminal out at sea were backed by Dutch chemical expert Hans Pasman, who insisted that although the risk of accident was low, a gas cloud could easily reach Marsaxlokk village and burn over it, creating devastation.
He said the LNG tanker should be placed outside the bay to avoid any harm being done to nearby communities if an accident were to happen.
However, his argument was countered by Greek expert George Papadakis, who had carried out the risk analysis study for the Occupational Health and Safety Authority.
Prof. Papadakis said that if a gas cloud escaped it would have likely found an ignition source long before reaching the village.
“We can argue that a gas cloud could reach Valletta and catch fire over the city but the truth is that it would have ignited long before that.”
The fatality rate within the immediate vicinity of the plant was one in every 100,000 years and decreased the further away one moved, he said.
He explained that the risk assessment study was of a preliminary nature and would have to be updated at a later stage when the exact plans are known. This was an ongoing exercise and normal for such projects.
Prof. Papadakis said that based on the energy demand of the Maltese islands, a refuelling LNG tanker would have to call between eight and 12 times a year. The manoeuvring area for the visiting refuelling ship would be outside the bay and the tanker would be assisted by tugboats when berthing alongside the LNG storage unit.
Mepa’s planning directorate had recommended approval and proposed a series of conditions including a €500,000 bank guarantee and a planning contribution of €125,000.
Other recommendations included submitting a detailed construction management plan and the issuance of an IPPC permit before the plant could be operational.
The PN said it was disappointed with Mepa’s decision, accusing the authority of choosing “the Prime Minister’s partisan interests before the health and safety of residents”.
It criticised the authority for taking a decision blindly without having all the necessary studies in hand.
Alternattiva Demokratika deputy chairman Carmel Cacopardo said what worried him most was the maritime impact study that was not done and which would have to evaluate the impact of rough seas on the LNG tanker.
The project
A 215MW power station using natural gas will be built on the grounds of the Delimara power station complex.
The second part of the project is the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. This includes a jetty, where a floating storage unit (FSU) will be permanently moored, and a land-based re-gassificator.
The LNG will be turned back into gas for use in the new power station and the existing BWSC plant, which will be converted to work on gas.
The applicant
The two permit applications were filed by Malta Power and Gas, a subsidiary of Enemalta.
The company will eventually be purchased by Electrogas, the consortium that won the bid to build the new power station.
The Prime Minister’s letter
Planning law gives the appeals tribunal power to stop work on any project pending the outcome of an appeal. However, it allows exceptions when the project concerned is one of strategic national importance.
In his letter to the Mepa chairman, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat informed the board, as was his right, that the government considered the project one of strategic national importance.
Such a right has been used in the past, including by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in 2011 when Mepa was considering two applications for the construction of bus interchanges and alterations to advertisement panels on bus shelters. The government at the time deemed the projects to be of strategic national importance.
Dr Muscat’s letter meant that if anybody appealed yesterday’s decision, the applicant could still go ahead with the work pending a decision by the appeals tribunal.
However, it is only the applicant and registered objectors who can appeal. In this case the only registered objector was Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar that raised concerns on the jetty application and its possible impact on archaeological remains.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com