Enemalta is again running the BWSC power station in Delimara that was sold to Shanghai Electric more than a year ago.
Confirming that the Maltese energy supplier has “temporarily assumed responsibility for the operation of the plant in Delimara acting as a reasonable and prudent operator”, an Enemalta spokesman would not say whether a fee was being paid to the Chinese firm for use of ‘its’ plant.
D3 plant, the former BWSC facility, was sold by the government to the Chinese State entity for €100 million in December 2014. According to the contract, which was not published, Shanghai Electric had to invest a further €70 million in the plant to make it run on natural gas instead of heavy fuel oil.
The conversion has just started and Enemalta is known to have again taken over possession until the changeover is completed.
The indicated power purchase agreement is structured as per industry practice
Asked why was it necessary for Enemalta to take over the plant if this was technically someone else’s property, the company spokesman said this was done to maintain a stable electricity supply to the country.
“Since electricity demand and security of supply considerations necessitated the need to continue operating the D3 plant with heavy fuel oil during the conversion phase, as part of the agreement between the two companies, Enemalta plc has temporarily assumed responsibility for the operation of the plant acting as a reasonable and prudent operator,” the spokesman said.
However, no reply was forthcoming to the question on whether Enemalta was paying the Chinese firm some form of fee. He only said: “The indicated power purchase agreement is structured as per industry practice.”
It is unclear for how long Enemalta will be running the plant.
Information on the plant conversion is scarce. The start of the job was announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during a political activity at the party’s club in Żabbar last month when he said that half of the BWSC power station was stopped so the heavy fuel oil infrastructure would be dismantled and replaced. At the time, Dr Muscat did not indicate that Enemalta had taken over the temporary running of the facility.
When asked for details, the Enemalta spokesman said that the conversion job will be done in two phases. Four turbines would be converted first with the job on the others being done in the second phase.
Originally, the conversion was scheduled to start last December and take a year to complete.
The Times of Malta reported last week that Minister without portfolio Konrad Mizzi had flown to China together with Enemalta company secretary Aaron Mifsud Bonnici.
No information was released by the government on the visit and a spokesman would only say the minister was having talks with Shanghai Electric.
Apart from owning a 90 per cent stake in the BWSC plant, Shanghai Electric, a Chinese State company, also has a 33 per cent shareholding in Enemalta.
The agreements signed have so far not been published by the government.
ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com