(Adds PL's reaction)
The government may request the EU Commission to extend the Marsa power plant’s lifetime until the inter-connecter between Malta and Sicily is in place.
The new power plant being built at Delimara is expected to be fully in service by May next year. As soon as it is in service, part of the Marsa plant will be switched off.
However, the Marsa cannot be totally switched off until the interconnector with Sicily becomes functional in 2013.
Although this plant should be closed down by the end of next year, production by the new extension will be lower than that at Marsa
This means that the government may have to request the Commission permission to continue operating Marsa for a short period.
During a press tour at the new Delimara plant, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said that a decision had been taken to run the Marsa plant on low sulphur fuel which would enable it to reduce its emission levels.
The construction of the new plant was in an advanced stage and the eight diesel engines, which would be producing 17.1 megawatts each are already in place.
The new plant would be 47 per cent efficient, against the Marsa plant efficiency level of 23 per cent. The efficiency at the old Delimara plant ranges from 33 to 39 per cent.
By the end of this year, the plant’s first engines would be in operation. The other engines would be phased in gradually until May.
PL'S REACTION
The government’s confirmation that it was preparing to request permission from the European Union to extend the life of the Marsa power station was a certificate to its lack of planning and incompetence.
In a statement, spokesmen Joe Mizzi and Marlene Pullicino said that the government had promised to close down the Marsa plant in several manifestos.
They said that although the European Commission would give the required permission, the country was in this situation because it lacked the Energy Plan, Labour leader Joseph Muscat had been insisting for, for years.
The new plant will have four chimneys, each 65 metres high. The chimney of the existing plant at Delimara is 150 metres.