Enemalta has been fined by Mepa a lump sum of €177,000 and a daily fine of €428 per plant for three of the four energy-generating plants at the Marsa Power Station which have exceeded their allocated 20,000 hours.

The Marsa power station is subject to the limited lifetime derogation on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants.

This derogation allowed four generating plants at the Marsa Power Station to operate at higher emission limits than those allowed by the directive for 20,000 hours starting from January 2008 or until December 31, 2015.

To date, three of the four energy-generating plants at the Marsa Power Station have exceeded their allocated 20,000 hours.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority said in a statement it took into consideration both the environmental impact caused by the continued operation of the plant beyond the 20,000 hours as well as the options currently available to Enemalta to mitigate such impact.

It said it recognised the overriding requirement for Enemalta to meet Malta’s full energy demand.

The daily penalty is being applied until October 31, 2013 by when the interconnector should be operational and Enemalta should be in a position to close down the Marsa station.

If it is not yet shut down by this date, the daily penalties will be increased to €857 per plant per day for another 12 months.

In calculating the penalties, Mepa was guided by the general principles established by the European Commission for requesting the Court of Justice to impose lump sum and penalty payments in infringement proceedings.

All the funds collected from these penalties will be directed into the Environment Fund, established under the 2010 Environment and Development Planning Act to finance environment projects, programmes and schemes.