The long-awaited gas storage tanker for Delimara is on its way from Singapore, now crossing the oceans heading for Maltese shores. While a switch to gas from heavy fuel oil is positive, the government is fully aware how unpopular this tanker is likely to be once berthed and visible in Marsaxlokk harbour.

It has therefore created a nice little promotional film clip, available to view through online newspapers and on Facebook.

This videoclip reminds us that the new gas-fired power station will bring us cleaner air and a sustainable reduction in tariffs. It omits to state that using the interconnector has already provided the cleanest air solution for us, giving off no emissions in Malta at all, and has already enabled the promised reduction in electricity bills.

Another advantage, we are told, is the eventual demolition of the Delimara chimney. This eyesore will of course be replaced by the gas tanker in the harbour.

The Prime Minister is already attempting to ease the blow by repeating that the tanker is temporary, to be replaced by a gas pipeline. Already in March 2015, it was announced that studies for a gas pipeline were at an advanced stage and that it is considered to be an EU Project of Common Interest.

Nonetheless, the Electrogas consortium is building a gas-fired plant at Marsaxlokk, with considerable investment in a gas storage tanker and regassification unit. These will obviously be redundant when a pipeline is available. If studies are already advanced, surely some kind of timeframe for this gas pipeline can be anticipated?

The public must be informed how this pipeline fits in with the 18-year Electrogas power purchase agreement, and the unprecedented €300 million State guarantee for the consortium’s bank loan. This contract remains unpublished, in spite of repeated calls from the media and everyone else.

The energy sector must surely be the maddest sector that we have, with an endless stream of emotional hype, missing data, forgotten promises, unproven accusations and backroom deals.

For example, before the election many people had understood that Joseph Muscat promised to resign if the March 2015 deadline for the gas power station was not kept. Once the date was missed, we discovered that this only applied to a reduction in electricity rates. In other words, the pre-electoral promise was that he would resign if energy bills were not reduced due to the interconnector or the existing BWSC plant savings. Funny that, what were we all thinking?

The public must be informed how this pipeline fits in with the 18-year Electrogas power purchase agreement

It is now late September 2016 and the power station has not begun operating. Once the gas tanker arrives, it will surely need a considerable commissioning period before the project can be relied on for regular electricity generation.

The environmental permit required to operate it, known as the IPPC permit, has not yet surfaced. This must be granted by the Environment and Resources Authority. It should be preceded by a consultation period of several weeks with all documentation on the operation of the plant made available to the public, including the risk assessments which have been kept under wraps so far. The board discussion and permit decision must be held in public.

The promotional video also says that the new gas plant will practically eliminate ‘black dust’. This reminds me of the farcical Parliamentary Black Dust committee that was active a few years ago. This committee was tasked to discover the cause of black dust which was a nuisance in the Fgura and Paola area.

The Black Dust committee met over some years until 2012, and absolutely nothing was decided. Expert reports indicated that the Marsa power station was the most obvious and likely cause of these large black particles in the air, settling on people’s roofs, balconies and washing lines in the direction of the prevailing wind. Nonetheless, hours and hours were wasted on not establishing the cause.

The next set of dubious parliamentary hearings on the energy sector were those of the Public Accounts Committee on the oil procurement scandal which emerged just before the last election. These debates of this committee lasted 100 hours, with 47 sittings and 37 witnesses.

This seems to have been a time-wasting fishing expedition. The committee was adjourned sine die earlier this year. Minister Owen Bonnici’s concluding message was that the committee had worked well and that a non-political report on lessons learnt would be drawn up. As far as I know, this report has not yet seen the light of day.

After all that fuss and hype, possibly even swaying the results of a general election, so far the oil procurement affair has fizzled out into not very much at all. Where is the truth in all this?

Finally, the videoclip states that the gas power station will enable the final closure of the Marsa Power Station. But isn’t it as good as closed already? An open day to celebrate its closure was held last year.

This government video may well fit the increasingly popular idea of ‘post-truth’ or ‘post-factual’ politics. Its aim is not to present the public with facts, but to reinforce prejudices based on emotions.

petracdingli@gmail.com

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