The fires at Marsa are out, and the power station has stopped belching smoke and flames. Tearful employees said goodbye, having struggled with this iron monster for decades, like a friendly dragon which they cared for in spite of its faults.
An open weekend was held to visit the dragon’s empty lair. A party was organised on site, with multi-coloured lighting, at which people sang praise. If this was a fairy tale (not Alice in Wonderland) they might have chanted: “Hurrah, the dragon is dead!”
This party was timed to coincide with the missed deadline for the new gas power station. How could you possibly feel let down with a celebration under way? Let’s throw a party and think of success, not disappointment!
Yes, that’s right, it was a party of spin. Some people are duped by this sort of thing.
Having said that, it is great that Marsa has closed and a shame that it took so long. The interconnector to the grid in Sicily is finally due to come online and the BWSC plant at Delimara is working efficiently. No more ‘black dust’ episodes are expected.
Marsa is on standby until next year. Will some parts be preserved as industrial heritage, or will the whole thing be razed to the ground? There was once talk of transforming it into a public green area. This would be a kind of symbolic compensation for the pollution it caused while providing electricity for 60 years.
Don’t hold your breath. Green areas are very low priority in this country.
Switching to gas at Delimara is undoubtedly better for environmental health. Yet questions remain unanswered about whether offshore storage of LNG outside the harbour was properly considered, especially for safety reasons.
More details of the gas project will emerge with the environmental permit.
This should include a nautical study of the impact of the huge gas storage tanker and its supply ships on the movement of ships and boats in Marsaxlokk Bay.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, was recently asked what energy policy he would follow if he were to lead the government in three years’ time. He might as well not bother. Besides renewable energy, what energy policy could any future Prime Minister hope to present with his hands tied for the next 18 years or more?
The energy sector involves big money and is a magnet for shady deals and political point-scoring
Malta will be committed to purchase electricity from Electrogas and China until around 2033. Once again, the details are being kept under wraps. A farcical parliamentary debate on the agreements was held without the full documents being provided.
Selfishly speaking, the interconnector would provide the ‘cleanest’ energy, as it is generated overseas with no air emissions in Malta at all. It might also be possible to buy electricity from renewable sources.
Gas is much cleaner than oil, but it is also a fossil fuel and produces some emissions.
Yet due to the large capacity of the new gas power station, the interconnector is likely to be underutilised for importing energy. If anything, exporting energy through the interconnector might encourage the production of excess electricity, and generate more air pollution in Malta than necessary to meet local demand.
The energy sector involves big money and is a magnet for shady deals and political point-scoring. The disastrous fuel scandal at Enemalta under the previous administration erupted two years ago and is still being dissected in microscopic detail by the Public Accounts Committee.
The case is in court and the purpose of these never-ending committee meetings on the subject is becoming less clear at each sitting, other than to widen the net and perhaps catch some political fish.
The National Audit Office report on fuel hedging has revealed direct ministerial intervention to bring the Azerbaijani state oil company Socar into the game.
When cornered on this, the government retorts that the end justifies the means, as long as Socar offered a good price. The energy sector is truly a world unto itself.
Another obscure move is an agreement between Malta and Azerbaijan to create a gas hub catering for local and international markets. Why are the government’s meetings with EU leaders publicised immediately, while meetings in Azerbaijan are not?
Too many deals go on behind closed doors. People want cleaner and more transparent politics, on all sides.
Throwing a party on the day of the missed deadline was a blatant attempt to spin a connection between the closure of Marsa and the new gas power station. But there is no direct link between the two.
We are still months, if not years, away from the gas power station. The closure of Marsa was possible through the efficiency of the BWSC plant at Delimara, and the improved distribution system with the interconnector coming online soon.
There is also no direct link between the new gas power station and the reductions in electricity prices – though they are very welcome, in any case.
The spin party at Marsa was a smokescreen to blot out the missing gas plant. This diversionary tactic comes across as a feeble trick and does not suggest more honest politics. Switching to gas is good, but does not mean presenting us with a load of hot air.
petracdingli@gmail.com