The Mepa board will hold an important meeting today to discuss the granting of an IPPC (environmental) permit for the operation of the power station extension at Delimara.
Last month it was announced that the Planning Authority's environment directorate is proposing a provisional nine-month permit for the operation of the extension.
The nine-months will enable a committee to monitor the operations of the plant amid complaints that the heavy fuel it will use will cause harmful emissions and produce tons of waste.
The proposed draft condition will allow the generation of electricity using two types of fuel, heavy fuel and diesel. If the former is used, the sulphur content cannot exceed 10 kilograms for every tonne of fuel. By the end of December 2012 Enemalta will have to submit a feasibility study on the conversion of the Delimara power station to various gas fuel options, including liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, and natural gas.
Furthermore, if heavy fuel oil is used, ambient air quality tests have to be carried out regularly by the monitoring committee which will evaluate whether heavy fuel oil can continue to be used or not.
The Labour Party this morning said it is urging Mepa to decide that the power station extension at Delimara should operate on gas oil (diesel) rather than heavy ful oil.
The PL said that a Mepa decision in favour of gas oil would speed up the process for the power station to be converted to gas, as promised by Joseph Muscat.
The PL said it had always insisted that the power station should use gas instead of any form of polluting oil. But the government was stubbornly opting for heavy fuel oil.
"This choice means not only the highest bills, but it is also the worst decision from the environmental point of view."
The PL said its call for a change of decision should not mean higher bills, but should hasten the process for the power station to convert to cleaner technology with cheaper tariffs.
The PL said it was reiterating its promise that a Labour government would start a process to convert the power station extension to use gas oil and then to gas.