Enemalta has more than enough capacity to meet to demand which usually peaks in summer, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this morning.

Asked if Enemalta was taking any measures to ensure that there was enough supply to meet demand, Mr Fenech said that recent developments, whereby people invested in photovoltaic panels, solar water heaters and energy saving bulbs, reduced the load on Enemalta, which put the corporation in a better position.

The minister was speaking while touring Enemalta's Paceville distribution centre and the implementation of the Scada project, which is the computerisation of the various distribution centres.

Scada monitors all Enemalta's equipment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The minister explained that, so far, both power stations and 12 of the 18 distribution centres were connected to Scada. The rest would be connected by June 2012.

The Scada contract, which cost €5 million, was awarded to IBM in 2009. It is part of Enemalta's programme of investment of over €77 million, which includes the power station, the interconnector and the construction of new distribution centres to reduce the load on other centres such as the one in Paceville.

The latter supplied electricity to all hotels and restaurants in the St Julian's/Sliema area as well as to Mater Dei Hospital.

The Scada equipment monitors the distribution of electricity. Through it, the distribution centres are operated remotely from a single hub which is the new control room at Marsa.