The planning authority has given the go-ahead for the Delimara power station extension to run on heavy fuel oil instead of the less polluting diesel when it will be switched on next year. A permit has been granted for this fuel to be used for nine months, after which it will be re-evaluated.
After a four-hour meeting, Labour MP Roderick Galdes was the only one of the 10 board members to vote against the use of fuel oil, described as “dirty oil” by a consultant for the local councils.
The choice of fuel was the single most important issue under review in the environment permit (IPPC) decided yesterday, which tackled the operational aspects of the power plant.
The Marsaxlokk, Birżebbuġa and Żejtun local councils, represented by their mayors, were evidently disappointed by the authority’s decision.
Engineer Arthur Ciantar, one of the consultants for the councils, said he could not understand why the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board approved the use of heavy fuel oil when the “logical choice” would have been the “cleaner diesel”.
Mr Ciantar had argued in the meeting that diesel would have cut down on harmful emissions and produced almost no hazardous waste.
The Marsaxlokk area already suffered from a high incidence of harmful fine dust, he insisted, adding that the situation would be made worse if the extension run on heavy fuel oil.
He highlighted the difference between the fuels by presenting the Mepa board with two glass beakers containing a black gooey substance – heavy fuel oil, and a clear liquid – diesel.
“Fuel oil is a dirty fuel, it is the waste of the oil industry,” Mr Ciantar said.
The new power plant, made up of eight diesel engines, can run on both fuels and is also equipped with abatement technology to clean the emissions before they are released into the air.
The cleaning mechanism will produce tonnes of hazardous waste if heavy fuel oil is used and according to the permit, Enemalta has to have a waste export contract in hand to be allowed to burn it.
Enemalta representative Martin Attard Montalto said the energy company would award the hazardous waste export contract in the coming days. The corporation has opposed the use of diesel because it says the cost of production will be much higher leading to an increase in electricity tariffs for consumers.
Backed by its consultants, economist Gordon Cordina and audit firm KPMG, the energy company argued that using diesel instead of heavy fuel oil at Delimara would lead to an additional cost of €20 million next year and an increase of 10 per cent in consumer tariffs.
However, the KPMG representative and Mr Attard Montalto conceded that using diesel may actually be cheaper if the Delimara plant were compared to Marsa.
This comparison was made by Mr Ciantar and environmentalist Edward Mallia, who said if a diesel-fired Delimara plant was compared to the inefficient Marsa power station run on heavy fuel oil then costs would actually drop by 17 per cent.
Mr Ciantar said with the Delimara extension having more than double the efficiency of the Marsa power station, less fuel would be burnt to produce the same amount of electricity.
KPMG admitted it did not have a remit to compare the Delimara extension with the Marsa power station.
Mr Attard Montalto also said Enemalta might lose the guarantee on the abatement equipment if the engines were run on diesel rather than heavy fuel oil.
Salient conditions of permit
• The environment permit is valid until next September when it will be reviewed again by the planning board.
• The power station can use heavy fuel oil with a maximum sulphur content of one per cent.
• An air quality monitoring committee that includes a representative of the local councils has to be set up and present its report to the planning board by September 2012.
• Enemalta has to have a hazardous waste export contract before it can use heavy fuel oil otherwise it will have to burn diesel instead.
• The planning board requested a letter of comfort to the tune of €5.8 million from Enemalta and also charged a series of fees totalling more than €100,000.