It will be an interesting debate today when the government addresses questions about Malta’s energy road map. Both the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister have a lot to answer for.

It was a good move by the Opposition to formally request a debate in Parliament. They now need to move away from childish antics and stop reminding the country what the Prime Minister had said before the election.

Yes, we all remember the promises of resignation but we all know that the Prime Minister will not be stepping down. At this stage ,the only thing that matters is Malta’s best interest. After all, according to the government’s public statements and road map, if the gas plant is not running, it is Malta and taxpayers that will suffer.

I am curious how the Prime Minister has stated that taxes will not be increased to counter the current and future reduction in bills. Where is the surplus money coming from? Enemalta is still debt ridden and cannot afford to absorb the millions of euros needed to cover the reduction in bills just because Joseph Muscat made a pre-election promise.

Unless, of course, the government is making full use of the projects started under the previous administration to finance such reductions. The diesel engine power plant (BWSC) has already saved Enemalta millions in fuel costs. It is probably thanks to the BWSC plant that this government has managed to cut residential utility rates.

Once the interconnector is in operation, hopefully by the beginning of next year, the cost of generating one unit of electricity will fall even further and, thus, help Enemalta balance its books.

This, of course, leads to the question about the need for the government and Enemalta to embark on the gas plant project. Once the gas plant is complete, Enemalta will be tied into a power purchase agreement for 20 years at unknown costs. It might end up being forced to buy electricity from Electrogas even though it can buy it cheaper through the interconnector.

The stance taken by the Prime Minister about the interconnector is also worrying. It is definitely true that electricity from the interconnector is less expensive than a fuel-oil fired plant. But the statement that a gas-fired plant will be cheaper may or may not be true. Energy data shows there will be times when the interconnector will be even cheaper.

The Prime Minister also said that Sicily does not have enough energy capacity for the island. This is untrue because Sicily is a net exporter of electricity to the Italian mainland and has over 1,000MW of reserve capacity. All this information is available on the internet. Why are his advisers giving him blatantly wrong information?

These are the issues the Opposition should be dealing with.

Chasing promises of resignation does not do the country any good. Highlighting misleading information provided by the Prime Minister, which serves only to worry the electorate, does.

This project is seen as one of national importance. Credit agencies have given Malta a stable outlook because of the planned change to gas and that is why the government should be upfront with information pertaining to it.

Let’s hope the government will today lay our fears and doubts to rest

It is important for the government to be more honest. The latest statement saying the project has only been delayed by a few months seems far-fetched in view of the fact that little work has apparently been carried out on site. Siemens themselves, in their publication, say that a typical combined cycle plant takes between 20 and 24 months to be built.

The government also needs to be transparent on the contractual issues. Contracts such as the power purchase agreement, the gas supply agreement and site lease contracts are apparently top secret and haven’t even been divulged to Parliament for any kind of public scrutiny. Nobody knows what kind of conditions the government has accepted. Nobody even knows if these are yet to be signed.

Does this mean the contract has not yet been signed or does it mean that this is now being renegotiated? The Chinese will want to make a profit and being second in line when it comes to providing electricity will not lend itself to a safe return on investment.

Enemalta should not be put in a position where it ends up paying more per kWh. Even worse, it should not agree to make to the Chinese something similar to a yearly payment for the use of the plant.

Rather than a road map, Malta’s energy plan feels more like a game of Twister. Let’s hope the government will today do the right thing and lay our fears and doubts to rest by giving satisfactory and complete explanations without trying to hide behind arguments about ‘national security’ or ‘commercial sensitivity’.

After all, the future of Malta is at stake.