The Government yesterday set the ball rolling for a new gas-fired power station, an initiative meant to deliver on Labour’s biggest electoral pledge: lower water and electricity bills.
Addressing a press conference at the Delimara power station – the area earmarked for a new 200 Megawatt natural gas power plant and ancillary gas storage facilities – Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said the Government was committed to have the facility up and running by the spring of 2015.
The winning bid will be chosen on the basis of a call for expressions of interest rather than a fully fledged tendering process.
Dr Mizzi said EU procurement rules allowed the Government to do this as they made an exception in the case of tender procedures for the purchase of fuel and electricity.
Labour has argued that it would not be buying a power plant but electricity and gas from a supplier.
When asked whether the Government had sought the advice of the European Commission on this issue, Dr Mizzi said there was no need.
“EU procurement rules make certain exceptions when it comes to such projects and, essentially, we are only following the law,” he said.
However, he stressed that the adjudication process, which will be handled by an internal Enemalta set-up rather than the Contracts Department, would still be transparent, along the lines prescribed by the EU.
Dr Mizzi also indicated that the Government might choose to bypass the standard planning process for the power station.
He said a decision still had to be made on whether it would be the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to consider the permit for the plant, adding that the law gave Cabinet some leeway to decide directly on permits related to strategic developments.
The launch of the competition is the first step in a process which Dr Mizzi is aiming to conclude by the end of September.
Enemalta’s call is for a long-term power purchase agreement and a gas supply agreement that would see the corporation buy some 200 MW of electricity from the winning bidder, along with gas to fire its own existing 150 MW BWSC power station, which will be converted to gas.
The electricity supplied by the private sector will come through a new gas power station to be built by the private sector.
A major change in Labour’s electoral proposal could possibly be made to the gas storage and re-gasification facilities.
Labour had originally proposed two massive gas tanks right next to the power station.
The call, however, does not mention the gas tanks and, instead, leaves it up to the bidders to make their own proposals, which could also include an offshore storage supply or even a pipeline, an option proposed by the Nationalist Party.
Asked whether this was a digression from Labour’s original plans, Dr Mizzi said the Government could not impose the storage technology on the bidders.
“It’s up to them how to provide gas,” he said. “Our pre-election proposal was based on a baseline methodology. But if they want to use a different option, including a pipeline, it’s up to them, as long as they can meet our requirements.”
Dr Mizzi emphasised that the price of electricity would be the most important determining factor when it comes to Enemalta’s final choice.
Asked whether his political future would be compromised should the project fail to materialise by the 2015 deadline, Dr Mizzi would only say that he “will do all that is possible to meet this commitment within the promised timeframes”.