Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has confirmed that the power station extension contract with BWSC does not feature penalties should agreed emission limits be exceeded.

Replying to questions in Parliament by Nationalist MP Franco Debono, the minister explained that emission levels were set by law and were therefore mandatory. BWSC was obliged to take all measures to observe them. Should the limits not be respected, the plant equipment would ‘not be accepted'.

"In practice, this means that the plant must reach the specified limit values in order to be accepted," the minister said.

Replying to other questions by Dr Debono, Mr Fenech said a spare parts and technical services agreement on the power station extension had not been signed yet.

He said that the SPTSA would be signed on completion of the engineering design of the plant. The €18m contract would cover five years, after which it could be extended or another contractor could be considered, the minister said.

In reply to other questions by Dr Debono, Mr Fenech said the new power station plant could operate on both heavy fuel oil and gasoil. The use of gasoil with a sulphur content of 0.1 per cent would remove the need for de-sulphurisation and reduce solid waste produced by the plant by some 95 per cent, but the average operational cost would be higher by some 30 per cent - based on 2009 fuel prices - even when one considered the savings from de-sulphurisation and the disposal of the flyash.

Parliament will be debating the power station extension today following a motion moved by the Opposition.