The power station developed in the early 1950s in the rock-cut tunnels beneath Jesuits Hill in Marsa forms part of one of Malta’s most historic transformations. Our country was gradually rebuilding its infrastructure following the destruction of World War II.
The Marsa A underground power station energised the beginning of a new future based on a mixed economy, social progress and sustainable growth.
This part of the Marsa power station continued to supply electricity to the Maltese islands until 1994. Then, for over 20 years its vast underground spaces were practically abandoned, sparsely used as a store.
In December 2017, Enemalta plc signed a collaboration agreement with Streamcast Technologies, Inc. to give these tunnels a new lease of life. Last week, we inaugurated the first investment as part of this collaboration.
Streamcloud is a €5 million top-tier international data centre in one of the smallest of the site’s tunnels. As a pilot project, the new data centre is a blueprint of how this underground structure with stable, low temperatures can be feasibly utilised without compromising its historic value. Streamcast and Enemalta will soon continue developing the next phases of this venture within the same site, to establish the largest and most secure international data centre in Malta.
Enemalta’s process of transformation is not nearing completion. It is just getting started
Five years ago, we would not have even considered such a development. Fast forward to 2017 and as soon as we learnt of this opportunity, within a few months we began transforming an abandoned site into one of the most promising investments in the Maltese islands.
In five years, with the support of our shareholders and the determination and commitment of our management and staff, we have turned a rigid, inefficient organisation into a vibrant, sustainable company capable of identifying rewarding opportunities and turning them into a reality swiftly and effectively.
I believe that this new mindset – the openness to new prospects and the determination to dynamically make them happen – is perhaps the most important legacy of Enemalta’s transformation in the last few years. The Streamcloud project would not have been possible without this radical reorganisation of our company’s objectives, which are now firmly grounded on the principles of continuous optimisation, customer-centricity and diversification.
Enemalta’s process of transformation is not nearing completion. It is just getting started. The Streamcloud data centre is a pilot project, a taste of the potential of this kind of investment in the Maltese islands. It is a promising beginning.
Likewise, if Enemalta intends to maintain and extend its recent success, it needs to grasp the fact that the achievements of the last four years are simply the minimum requirements for future endeavours – reaching the same results is now the least that the company’s shareholders are expecting. During the last four years we focused our energies on putting this house in order as swiftly as possible. Enemalta today calls for a new focus, for new objectives, to take this company to the next level and make it flourish.
Streamcloud’s investment is pointing us in the right direction. One thing we’ve learned from Enemalta’s past difficulties is that we cannot rely on our core energy services only. Enemalta needs to carefully diversify its portfolio.
Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most successful investors, explains that haphazard, wide-ranging diversification is simply “protection against ignorance”, which will not go a long way to achieving long-term successful results.
Diversification at Enemalta cannot be a hotchpotch of disconnected investments in the hope that the losses of one venture are compensated by the profits of the others. Just like Enemalta followed a well-defined plan to achieve financial turnaround, it now needs a similar meticulous strategy for intelligent diversification.
We have helped Enemalta cross over the first threshold. I am confident that under its new management, this company will continue to work hard and to develop more intelligent diversification opportunities such as the one we inaugurated last week, to turn a promising beginning into a longstanding history of success.
Fredrick Azzopardi is the chairman of Enemalta plc.