Enemalta has started importing electricity through the €200 million interconnector to Sicily, although it has not yet made an official announcement.

“We are currently importing some 50 MW during the day and 30 MW during the night,” a source told Times of Malta, adding this has been taking place for a week.

Malta’s peak load during March normally hovers around 300MW.

The source said the interconnector had been energised for the first time yesterday week and it has been in use since.

An Enemalta spokesman confirmed that electricity was being imported and put into the national grid. However, this is still considered to be the testing stage, he stressed.

“We are now conducting ‘hot tests’ meaning that we import electricity to continue this final testing stage. Obviously, we are using the electricity we are importing to supply our national grid,” the spokesman said. Asked about the amount being imported, he said it was not constant.

We are now conducting hot tests

Through the interconnector, Malta has for the first time been connected to the European grid, meaning it is no longer entirely dependent on the electricity produced by the power station.

Apart from making the supply of power more secure it will pave the way for the importation of cheaper energy from the continent.

According to the Italian company Gestore Mercati Energetici, which manages the Italian electricity market, the average price of electricity traded on its system in March stood at 5.2c per KWh. Currently, the lowest price being charged by Enemalta to consumers is 10.4c per KWh.

Work on the Malta-Sicily interconnector started in 2012 and comprises a 120km high voltage system capable of bidirectional flow of electrical power, transferring 200 MW of electricity. In Sicily, the interconnector is linked to the Italian network in Ragusa while the network in Malta lands at Qalet Marku in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.