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7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 APRIL 2020 NEWS Gas pipeline needs 8,000 square metres in land reclamation JAMES DEBONO THE Malta-Sicily gas pipeline will require a new terminal plant on 8,000 square me- tres of reclaimed sea bed, an environmen- tal impact assessment reveals. The project, which is expected to im- prove Malta's energy security, foresees the construction of a gas pipeline between Delimara, Malta and Gela in Sicily, togeth- er with a terminal station and land recla- mation at Delimara power station and an onshore tunnel across the Delimara pen- insula. The new terminal station will be con- structed within the existing Delimara pow- er station to have limited visual impact. Two beneficial impacts of the project are the increase in security of the natural gas supply when compared to the existing FSU and regasification system; and the reduc- tion in various operational risks and haz- ards due to the lower vulnerability of the pipeline when compared to the existing system. The pipeline will be 158km long between Delimara (Malta) and Gela (Sicily) of which 152km will be under the sea. Once implemented, the gas pipeline would provide a more reliable source to supply natural gas to Malta, eliminating the need for the Floating Storage Unit (FSU) recently installed to supply natural gas to the diesel engine plant and the new gas turbines at Delimara. The project is ex- pected to deliver cheaper gas prices. The new terminal facility and will be lo- cated on the southern-most edge of the site, with the regasification plant boundary wall to the north. The terminal station will house a range of equipment required for the operation and maintenance of the pipeline. In order to accommodate the additional structures, an area of 8,000 sq.m will need to be reclaimed. This reclaimed land will be used for the terminal plant (6,855 sq.m) and a new breakwater (4,840 sq.m) to shel- ter the new plant from incoming waves. The rock protection area will have a pe- rimeter of about 230m and a thickness of around 28m. The EIA warns that excavation works and vibrations may precondition adjacent coastal cliffs to failure, particularly for the Middle Globigerina Limestone rock layer, which quickly deteriorates with weath- ering. This impact is described as "direct, permanent and will have a local extent, and is considered of major significance". The construction of the road and new terminal plant will also require excavation of soil and rocks. The gas pipeline will cross underground the Delimara peninsula between the ter- minal plant and the seaward side along the east coast. This will be done through a micro-tun- nelling borehole which will surface at around 42m below sea level about 600m offshore. The pipeline will continue its pathway underwater until it reaches the shores of Gela. During the construction phase, likely onshore impacts include bedrock collapse from micro-tunnelling and destabilisation of terrain from cliff works, both of which cause permanent impacts of major signif- icance. Mitigation measures being propose in- clude the stabilisation of the coastal cliff face with steel mesh and shot-creting soon after cliff works are completed. Impact on climate change The type of gas which is supplied through the pipeline during pipeline op- eration will determine the climate change impacts from its incineration at the pow- er station. If the gas originates from natural and non-renewable sources, then the pipeline will retain more or less the same impacts as the existing scenario. However, the pipeline can also supply re- newable natural gas (RNG) such as biom- ethane, which is produced from biomass (generally plant material). Since the carbon emitted by its combus- tion would have been recently absorbed from the atmosphere by the plant, the pro- cess is considered to be carbon neutral. In this scenario, Malta's national carbon footprint would be reduced. KURT SANSONE JOBLESS people registering for work increased by 353 last month as the first tangible impacts of COVID-19 started being felt on the economy. The number of people register- ing for work with Jobsplus, a gov- ernment agency, stood at 2,125 in March, an increase of 20% over the previous year. Unemployment increased across all age groups, the National Statis- tics Office said on Tuesday. The biggest increase, 80%, was among those registering for work for less than 21 weeks, when com- pared to the same month last year, signalling the immediate impact of the pandemic on economic opera- tors. The number of persons with a disa- bility who were registering for work increased by 20 when compared to the previous year, reaching 239. The largest share of males and fe- males on the unemployment regis- ter sought occupations as clerical support workers, with 20% and 39% respectively. Since the start of the pandemic in Malta on 7 March, various restric- tive measures have been introduced to limit the spread of the infection. All inward and outbound travel has been stopped, schools closed and various retail outlets and ser- vices prevented from opening and operating. The situation has left many busi- nesses with no or little income, prompting some to lay off workers. Government introduced an eco- nomic rescue package last month by sustaining wages of some business- es. But while the measure has sup- ported worker and self-employed incomes for some 60,000 people, many more have had to contend with pay cuts and redundancies. Unemployment in Malta rises amid COVID-19 crash