Enemalta is expected to invest €80 million to strengthen its distribution in the coming years, apart from the €65 million it has already pumped into the system. "Our aim is to modernise Enemalta," Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said.

Enemalta is also planning to change all the meters through another €47 million investment, which aims to cut down on electricity theft through a more efficient billing system, Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter said.

A pilot project will kick off in March with smart meters, which remotely read electricity and water consumption, installed in 2,500 households around the island.

The investment in the past years included the recently opened €15.4 million distribution centre in Mosta, which supplies electricity to the north of the island.

This was helping Enemalta cut down on technical losses incurred when transferring electricity from one place to another.

Touring the premises of the Mosta centre yesterday, Dr Gatt said the investment over the past years was necessary to ensure the corporation could cope with the increasing demand for electricity.

He said it was predicted that Smart City would increase demand by 20 megawatts, adding that Enemalta was equipped to deal with this increase in demand.

Referring to the corporation's losses, Mr Tranter said Malta was striving to reach international standards. Dr Gatt said some non-technical losses emanated from internal inefficiencies, including overstaffing, unneeded shifts and overtime, which were being tackled through talks with the General Workers' Union.

Asked when the government was expected to officially publish the proposed water and electricity tariffs, Dr Gatt said discussions were under way between Enemalta and the Malta Resources Authority.

When contacted, MRA chairman Carmel Ellul said studies were being carried out on the tariffs' model and, while he said the process should not take long, he was not able to say when it would be finished.

On Monday the Federation of Industry highlighted the urgency of releasing the official tariffs' framework since companies had to be officially informed of the exact workings and rates, which would need to be factored into their cost structures.