The government has failed to meet the recommendations made by Enemalta Corporation to improve energy resources before last summer in order to reduce the risk of lengthy power cuts, The Sunday Times has learnt.
Necessary investment in the Delimara power plant is still some way off, the outdated Marsa power station's lifeline has been extended, and plans for an offshore wind farm and cable link to Sicily are still on the drawing board.
Enemalta's 'Electricity Generating Plan 2006-2015' report warns that the outage of any plant from 2009 during the peak summer months will cause power cuts in a number of areas.
The report says "action needs to be taken either to reduce peak demand or to acquire additional generating capacity before this date." It highlighted the need for 60 MW to be made available before the summer of 2008.
Figures show that the government failed to increase energy sources by the stipulated deadline, though it did manage to curtail the rate of growth in peak demand.
Since 2005 (the year the surcharge was introduced), growth in the rate of energy consumption has slowed. The reduction in demand has helped Enemalta deliver despite the lack of investment in capacity.
The Infrastructure Ministry confirmed that peak demand has effectively dropped. Pressed for clarification on what effective measures were implemented to achieve such results, it said: "People are conserving more energy."
Asked whether the tariffs were helping to reduce demand, the ministry said: "The most effective means of encouraging energy conservation is to charge the true cost of the product."
However, in an interview with The Sunday Times (pages 10, 11), Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt denied that the motive behind the new water and electricity tariffs was to reduce demand.
"With a surcharge of 95 per cent people did not reduce their electricity consumption," the minister said.
According to figures obtained by The Sunday Times, peak demand this year was 10 MW lower than in 2007, despite the anticipated 10 MW in demand from Mater Dei Hospital.
The significance of the reduction in peak demand emerges when compared with the average increase in peak load between 2000 and 2005, which was 12 MW per annum.
Meanwhile, plans to increase capacity are still being discussed. A new generation plant is planned for Delimara, but it is still "in the final stages of adjudication", according to the ministry.
There is no set deadline for the start of operations but the schedule for completion is 26 months from when the contract is signed, a spokesman said. The ministry confirmed there is no scheduled date for the signing of the contract.
During a visit to Prague last week, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi asked the EU for financial support to conduct technical studies on connecting the island to the European energy network.
Meanwhile, developments are in pipeline that will further stretch capacity. The Midi project in Tigné is expected to increase demand by another 14 MW, Pender Place in St Julian's by eight MW, and Smart City by 30 MW.
Some of these projects are likely to start before any significant investment in generating capacity can yield results.
The government has also proposed a wind farm requiring an investment of €130 million, which will provide four per cent of Malta's energy needs. However, the earmarked site for the offshore wind farm at L-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa remains controversial.
Meanwhile, the Marsa power station's lifeline has been extended by a number of years, even though Enemalta's report states that it "contributes both to a high fuel bill as well as to environmental impact."
The steam turbines at Marsa are over 45 years old and the boilers are between 20 and 40 years old. The plant's average efficiency is just 27 per cent.
The two steam units at Delimara are more than half way through their designed lifespan and the plant operates at 32 per cent efficiency.
The Infrastructure Ministry insists, however: "The generation plan is being implemented."