The adjudication process for the construction of a new gas-fired power plant and the supply of energy to Enemalta has fallen at least a month behind schedule, according to a timetable submitted by the corporation.
The Sunday Times of Malta has also learnt that Enemalta chairman Charles Mangion has opted to stay out of the selection process to avoid any possible conflict of interest.
The delivery of the Delimara plant and the reduction of energy tariffs is one of the major pledges of the new Labour administration.
Enemalta said on Friday it had received three final bids for its ambitious project, and CEO Louis Giordimaina confirmed that the selection process will take at least a few more weeks to be concluded.
When the official expression of interest was published last April, a month after the election, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had said the Government wanted to sign the deal by the end of this month.
He said the time frame for this ambitious project was time-bound as the Government’s intention was to have the new plant up and running by spring 2015.
The whole process is being carried by a government task force under the direct responsibility of the minister
Mr Giordimaina yesterday explained it will take another four weeks to select the winning bidder and some more weeks to conclude negotiations.
Asked to specify when the corporation now expects to conclude and sign a final deal, he failed to give a specific date but insisted “the project is on schedule according to our programme”.
Enemalta’s CEO said he did not recollect the minister’s declaration that the contract would be finalised by the end of September.
On the other hand, Mr Mizzi failed to explain the delay.
Replying to a series of questions sent by this newspaper, he only said that “the evaluation process is now ongoing and on track” and that “the project will realise tariff reductions as of next year and plant commissioning will be in line with the government’s stated intent.”
According to the minister, the project management and commercial discipline adopted in this process is something new in the energy sector in Malta and said this was absent in past major projects adopted by Enemalta “where major slippages were the order of the day.”
Meanwhile, this newspaper has learnt that Enemalta is not the driving force behind the adjudication process, even though the call was issued by the corporation.
“The whole process is being carried out by a government task force under the direct responsibility of Minister Mizzi,” the Enemalta chairman said.
“I chose not to be involved in the process as I was appointed chairman when the process has already started. I also wanted to avoid accusations of any perceived conflict of interest,” said Dr Mangion, a former Labour minister.
Dr Mangion insisted he had no commercial ties with one of the selected bidders, ElectroGas Malta Consortium, which is partly owned by the Tumas Group.
“I won’t tell you I don’t know the Tumas Group as I worked on many projects with them in my capacity as a notary. However, I have no commercial ties with them,” he insisted.
Apart from ElectroGas – which also include Gasan Group, Gasol plc, Socar Trading SA and Siemens Project Ventures GmbH – the two other selected bidders are Endeavour Energy Holdings and Yildirim Energy Investments.