Gas will burn at the Delimara power station only when EU funds for the project are secured, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
He warned that the conversion to gas from heavy fuel oil required “time and a substantial investment”.
Dr Gonzi was speaking at the inauguration of a gas facility at Bengħisa belonging to gas provider Gasco Energy.
Dr Gonzi said it was his Government’s long-term strategy to convert the power station to run on gas but this would be feasible when the island was connected to the European gas pipeline.
The EU has said funds could be made available for the project but this depended on the bloc’s next budget, which is at the centre of heated discussion. The Government has still to make its proposal and is currently in the phase of studying it.
Without EU funds the project would be too expensive, Dr Gonzi noted.
“The power station can only be converted to gas once European funds are sourced because this will ensure our financial resources are not jeopardised,” Dr Gonzi said.
Over the past three years the Government has faced flack over a decision to invest in a new power station at Delimara that runs on heavy fuel oil. Converting the plant to the much cleaner gas would require a further investment of more than €20 million and millions more would have to be spent to create the infrastructure to handle the new fuel.
With energy topping the political agenda, Dr Gonzi praised Gasco for investing €23 million in a sea importation terminal, storage and LPG bottling facility.
It is situated at Bengħisa, next to the Oil Tanking facility on the outskirts of the Freeport. The new plant replaces the old gas facility situated in a growing residential area at Qajjenza in Birżebbuġa.
In a ceremony attended by various stakeholders, including gas distributors, Gasco chief executive Roberto Capelluto said the six underground storage tanks, built in a disused quarry, increased the storage capacity and enhanced Malta’s energy resources autonomy.
LPG is used for household and industrial purposes to cook with and heat water tanks. However, Mr Capelluto said Gasco wanted to facilitate the use of LPG for non-traditional purposes such as air conditioning, to drive cars and generate electricity.
Gasco is a joint venture between Maltese company Multigas and Italian firm Liquigas. Four years ago Gasco took over the gas bottling plant of state energy company Enemalta after a successful privatisation bid.
The new facility, a condition of the privatisation process, was built in four years and boasts higher safety standards. It increased the LPG storage capacity to 4,800 metric tonnes from the previous 2,300mt.
The project includes a two kilometre pipeline from the sea terminal to the storage tanks, an automatic cylinder filling plant that can fill 1,200 cylinders in an hour, a road tanker filing point to deliver bulk LPG to clients and administrative offices.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com