One of the main official reasons behind the proposed submarine link between Malta and Sicily - security of the energy supply - is being questioned by none other than the Enemalta Professional Officers' Union. It said a fault would plunge the country into darkness, with serious consequences for the business community. In addition, repairing such a fault would not be easy, especially if the elements of nature worked against you.
It suggested that instead of investing into the cable, the government should launch better incentives for photovoltaic cells on households and allow the local energy authority to buy back the energy produced at a more reasonable rate.
The union's views were submitted to the Climate Change Committee in reply to a request for feedback on its Climate Change Report.
The committee, chaired by David Spiteri Gingell, was specifically set up to draw up a national climate change strategy, which touches upon various areas such as efficient lighting, alternative energy sources, waste management, water and electricity and information campaigns.
The Enemalta Professional Officers' Union said there were many constraints in adopting wind as a renewable source of energy, adding that the proposal should be tested well through a pilot project because not all sites were suitable for wind farming.
Enemalta reacted saying it was surprised that the union, which represents engineers and other professional staff employed with the corporation, has chosen to express publicly its disagreement with the corporation's proposal to substitute part of the country's electricity supply through the cable, without discussing its concern with it.
It said modern cables, installed with the adequate protection, had proven to be extremely reliable and were generally credited with actually improving the security of supply of the interconnected systems. There were then other benefits resulting from shared generating resources, economies of scale in generation and the availability of electricity sources from generating units with lower emissions and lower costs.
Enemalta also said it was studying the possibility of installing two cables, which would be laid one kilometre apart to ensure a constant supply should one be damaged.
Referring to the suggestions regarding photovoltaic cells and wind energy, Enemalta said the cost of electricity generated by such systems was much higher than that generated by conventional systems.
The European Commission last month decided to treble Malta's allocation of funds for energy-related projects following intense pressure by the government.
According to a new document circulated among member states, the Commission has granted the island €20 million for its submarine cable project to tap into the European electricity grid through Sicily.