The gas power station agreement was signed behind closed doors because it was “impractical” to get all stakeholders together at the same time, according to the Energy Ministry.
The deal between Enemalta and Electrogas, a private consortium, was sealed last Friday and the media was not invited to cover the event.
But a spokeswoman for the ministry yesterday justified the decision since five different companies were involved – Enemalta and the four companies that make up the consortium.
Enemalta has been transparent throughout the competitive process and provided regular updates
“The agreement involved multiple parties and multiple board approvals from different companies which didn’t occur at the same time,” the spokeswoman said.
She insisted the ministry was working to a tight schedule and it was impractical to get all stakeholders in the same room within the required time line.
“Enemalta has been transparent throughout the competitive process and provided regular information updates and will continue to do so,” she added.
Electrogas will be building a gas power station and the infrastructure to store and handle liquefied natural gas.
Enemalta entered into a power purchase and gas supply agreement with Electrogas through which it is obliged to buy all electricity produced by the new power station.
The project had to be completed in 18 months, a tight deadline that was crucial to the electoral pledge to lower electricity tariffs for businesses by an average of 25 per cent in March next year.
The company was also obliged to make an upfront payment of €30 million, part of which had to be used to finance the reduction of consumer tariffs this year.
When contacted, Michael Kunz, Electrogas project coordinator, said the company was committed to honour all its obligations associated with the project, including “the consideration of €30 million”.
He insisted the timelines for the infrastructure works and completion of the project, including the floating storage unit were unchanged and “feasible”.
“The consortium remains committed to achieve this timeline and we hope to have people on site to conduct geo-technical work shortly. This work is preliminary to the main construction work.”
Mr Kunz confirmed the 18-year duration of the agreement and the five-year period over which Enemalta will pay a fixed price. He said the pricing agreed with Enemalta was unchanged from that outlined in the tender submission.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com