The ongoing media coverage about delays at Delimara and the possible impact these will have on government finances are masking a much bigger issue. Do we actually need the Electrogas plant?

We have gone from a situation where we were perilously close to not having enough generating capacity, with the clock ticking, to one where we will have too much.

Malta needs 430MW of generating capacity – even though it only needs that amount for a few weeks a year. However, when that demand is there, Enemalta has to provide it. This is hugely expensive for utility companies as they must invest in infrastructure which will basically remain idle for much of the time.

Marsa power station, which generates between 60 and 120MW has to be shut own, the sooner the better. The original 1990s Delimara plant, which generates about 120MW, will need to be phased out within four to five years.

The second Delimara plant generates around 90-100MW, and because it is run on hugely expensive gasoil, it is only kept for emergencies.

So we basically need to replace about 180MW.

We have three options on the table at the moment: the existing BWSC/Shanghai Electric plant which generates 150MW; the so-far phantom €370 million Electrogas plant which would generate 200MW; and the €200 million interconnector to Sicily and mainland Europe, which will give us 200MW.

Simple maths shows that we do not need all three for our daily needs. In theory, we could use Electrogas and the interconnector, only using the Shanghai plant to top-up when there is peak demand, or we could use Shanghai and Electrogas, using the interconnector for top-up.

The interconnector allows us to buy electricity at the most competitive prices, through access to the European grid. If we buy only what and when we need, we will clearly pay much higher rates than if we are contracted for long-term uptake. So it makes most sense for us to first use the full capacity of the interconnector – and only use Shanghai and Electrogas to complement them. Except we cannot do that. We are committed to buying all the electricity that Electrogas would provide for the next 18 years.

This explains the Chinese panic over their plant. They do not want to find themselves in a situation where Malta only buys 30MW from them and only for a few weeks of the year. What would they do? Sell the other 120MW to mainland Europe via the interconnector?

We know nearly nothing about the Electrogas contract but we do know that removing it from the equation would mean the BWSC plant would lose its source of gas.

The BWSC plant would either have to keep using expensive and polluting heavy fuel oil, or it would have to get it via a pipe from Sicily – for which we would have got EU funding, but for some reason, forgot all about since 2011.

There is another point that has been overlooked. When we laid the foundations in Sicily for the interconnector cable, they were sufficient for two cables and the second one would only cost €140-150 million, much less than the €200 million of the first. The ‘only’ comes with a caveat. While Electrogas was going to absorb the capital expenditure, who would pay for the second interconnector?

The government needs to balance security of supply against environmental concerns, capital expenditure against long-term cost, political promises against diplomatic commitments. Are taxpayers really getting the optimum solution?