Three per cent of the energy generated by Malta by the end of the year would be from renewables, meeting European Union interim targets, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said.

Speaking in Parliament during the presentation of Enemalta’s financial estimates, Mr Mizzi spoke on the action taken by the government to ensure that the corporation did not collapse as would have happened had no action been taken.

Dr Mizzi said that when the Labour government took over, it had found an Enemalta that was not in a position to finance more projects or to upgrade its distribution network because of the major financial losses it was making.

Had no action been taken, the corporation would have ended up being another shipyard.

The previous administration had had no plan for Enemalta except to increase tariffs by 30 per cent.

This government wanted to safeguard the jobs of Enemalta workers and sought new investment to strengthen the corporation

It went into partnership with Shanghai Electric Power which was to become a strategic partner as a 33 per cent shareholder injecting €320 million in cash into the corporation.

Through knowledge transfer and technique, the investment would make it possible for Enemalta to expand beyond Malta’s shores besides improving its balance sheet as it became regional player.

More initiatives and announcements would be announced in the coming months, he said.

The government also had plans for the Petroleum Division and these would be announced soon. This division, which required major investment, would be hived off from Enemalta and the plans the government was finalising would also guarantee the workers’ jobs.

The minister also said that the Marsa power station as well as the Delimara Phase 1 project would close next year.

The new Delimara project, he said, would ensure the highest safety standards according to international standards. All Maltese laws and EU directives were being followed.

Former Enemalta chairman Charles Mangion said that before the alliance with Shanghai Electric, Malta had not had any substantial investment from China since 2000.

This was contrary to what had happened in France, Germany, the UK, Austria and the Netherlands. In 10 years, the Chinese had acquired 33 companies in Germany, he said.