The government is pushing for EU funding to develop a new gas link with Italy that involves an offshore Floating Storage and Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) moored some 12 kilometres outside Marsaxlokk Bay.
At the height of the controversy over having an LNG tanker in Marsaxlokk for the new power station, the government was arguing that it would not be safe to place the tanker offshore due to navigational and other technical problems.
Meanwhile in Brussels, however, the Ministry of Finance was planning the opposite and pushing for the establishment of an offshore facility, Times of Malta has learnt.
The project, earmarked for EU funding under the Connecting Europe Facility, involves the building of a submarine gas pipeline between Malta and Gela in Italy.
According to preliminary designs submitted by the government, the link will be connected to an offshore FSRU, 150km from Gela and 12km from Malta just outside territorial waters.
An offshore location would reduce the vessel’s ability to maintain an uninterrupted supply
The FSRU being proposed by the Maltese government is one of the largest available, with storage capacity of 135,000 cubic metres.
The proposal involves the pumping of some 1.1 million cubic metres of re-gasified gas per day to fire the new power station. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is on record saying that according to technical advice, it was “unsafe” to place an offshore FSRU outside Marsaxlokk.
Apart from navigational problems, he cited other reasons such as: “Malta cannot afford to close part of its sea due to heavy vessel navigation and the possibility of adverse weather which could also pose a risk to Malta’s security of gas supply.”
Dr Muscat’s arguments were similar to the ones made by Electrogas, the consortium supplying the gas, which said an offshore location would reduce the vessel’s ability to maintain an uninterrupted supply and increase the risk of accident.
The Sunday Times of Malta had published a story revealing that Enemalta had turned down an offer for the placing of an LNG offshore facility some 100km from Delimara, made by US-based Endeavor Energy, which was placed second in the bidding.
No comment from ministry
The Nationalist Party and several pro-environment organisations including Din l-Art Ħelwa were opposing the plans to place the tanker full of LNG inside the port, saying this was unsafe and that the facility should be moved offshore. However the government rejected the proposal.
A spokesman for the European Commission told Times of Malta that the Maltese government was now expected to submit proposals for the funding of a feasibility study on the project.
Questions sent to the Energy and Health Ministry over the new revelations remained unanswered until the time of going to print.