Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this evening urged the government not to bind itself to buy electricity from the Chinese-run BWSC plant in Malta.

He was reacting to a story in Times of Malta which said today that Enemalta’s deal with Shanghai Electric Power has fallen behind because the Chinese side is seeking assurances that the corporation will buy the electricity produced from the BWSC plant, which it will take over.

Dr Busuttil noted that the government had already bound itself to buy electricity from Electrogas, the company which will build the new power station. Enemalta could also source electricity from the interconnector, on which millions of euro had been spent.

Therefore it would make no sense for the government to also bind itself to buy electricity from the Chinese-run BWSC plant. To do so could mean that Malta would buy electricity that was more expensive than market prices. Malta could also end up buying more electricity than it needed.

GOVERNMENT REACTION

In a reaction, the government said the only thing that could be made out of Dr Busuttil's statement was that he could not stomach the fact that electricity bills for domestic users had been reduced, and the same would happen for businesses next year, without any new tax burden.

DEAL DELAYED

Times of Malta reported today that the  deal with Shanghai Electric – a Chinese state company – was originally planned to be wrapped up by the beginning of September.

However, Enemalta sources said “problems had cropped up with the Chinese” who are asking for more clarifications before they sign the deal. 

Under the agreement first announced in September 2013 during a visit by the Prime Minister in China, Shanghai Electric will undertake to invest some €320 million in the corporation – €100 million to buy a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta, another €150 million to buy the BWSC plant in Delimara, and €70 million to convert it to gas.

The government has always stated that under this deal Enemalta would not be contractually bound to buy electricity from the Chinese power plant despite their investment.

However, according to the sources, the Chinese are asking for guarantees from Enemalta that the electricity produced from the plant they will be taking over will be purchased.   

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