Enemalta is in the process of building three centres to be able to distribute electricity more evenly, ease the load on the existing centres and ensure there is enough capacity to meet the demand in summer.
The new centres, in Pembroke, Kappara and Manoel Island, are part of a €77 million investment programme to improve the distribution of electricity across the country. Moreover, a terminal station is being built in Magħtab and will eventually receive the interconnector from Sicily, which will connect Malta to the European energy grid.
Enemalta acting chairman William Spiteri Bailey said that along with the upgrading of the Delimara power station and the interconnector cable, the corporation invested €5 million in the Scada system – supervisory control and data acquisition – that enables it to monitor all of its distribution centres and split loads accordingly.
So far, the Marsa and Delimara power stations and 12 of the 18 distribution centres have been hooked up to this avant-garde system. The rest are expected to be connected by next June.
Mr Spiteri Bailey was speaking during a visit by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech to the Paceville distribution centre, which was recently hooked up to the Scada system.
This distribution centre is crucial for the provision of energy to the area that hosts the Mater Dei Hospital, many five-star hotels, one of Malta’s main reverse osmosis plants and a number of major investments and accommodation developments taking place on the island. Moreover, the areas of Swieqi and Pembroke developed into large residential areas, resulting in a significantly above-average increase in energy demand in the region.
Enemalta was building the new distribution centres to be able to meet present and future demands, engineer Joseph Scicluna said. He explained how the Scada network gave the corporation the possibility of improving the reliability of supply through automation and remote control.
The system also gives Enemalta engineers timely warnings of abnormal operating parameters before failure and interruption occur.
Through this network, the distribution centres are operated remotely from a single hub – the new control room at Marsa. Asked whether Enemalta was in a position to meet the usual summer demand, Mr Fenech replied in the affirmative, adding the corporation had “more than enough capacity” to meet this demand, which had been decreasing gradually.
He said recent developments, such as households’ investment in photovoltaic panels, solar water heaters and energy saving bulbs, had reduced the load on Enemalta.
The Finance Ministry defended electricity rates in Malta, which, according to a recent report, were the fourth highest in the EU.
A ministry spokesman said Malta classified fourth on the spending power rates but ranked 12th, out of the 27 member states, when comparing the actual electricity rates. Moreover, he said, Malta’s rates were actually lower than the EU average with rates at €17 compared to the €17.08 EU average per 100 KwH while the eurozone average stood at €17.87.
The spokesman said the substantial increases in the price of oil affected a country irrespective of its purchasing power. A number of EU countries produced oil, coal or nuclear energy or were connected to energy grids on mainland Europe. Malta was totally dependent on oil, which was why it was investing in the interconnector project, he said.