Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1381190
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 JUNE 2021 NEWS KURT SANSONE MALTA is set to get a second inter- connector with Ragusa after Cab- inet approved the investment in a 200MW cable, Energy Minister Miri- am Dalli said. The new cable will run in parallel to the existing interconnector that connects the Magħtab station in Malta with the Ragusa station. Both stations were built to accommodate two cable connections. Dalli said that a study undertaken by France Electric showed that the most feasible option to meet the projected growth in electricity de- mand was a second interconnector of 200MW. The project is expected to cost €170 million and will help cut emis- sions from the energy sector by 58%. It is expected to be completed in 2025. Dalli said alternative connection sites in Calabria (mainland Italy), Tunisia and Greece were also stud- ied but they proved to carry higher risks and were more expensive. This project will not substitute government's intention to continue investing in other sources of energy such as hydrogen, Dalli added. Demand for electricity grew by 18% in four years and in a post-COVID recovery, Malta was expecting de- mand to continue increasing. The electrification of the trans- port sector, the shore-to-ship elec- tricity supply and economic growth will increase demand. Demand is expected to grow from 2,500GWH to 3,000GWH and peak demand will grow to 538MW in six years' time from 445MW. Dalli said that the interconnec- tor will ensure that Malta will have enough energy to meet the growing demand by 2025. Cabinet approves €170 million investment in a second 200MW interconnector to Ragusa NICOLE MEILAK RESIDENTS, mayors and NGOs have come together in an appeal towards the Planning Authority to outright reject the ITS-dB pro- ject proposal next Thursday. During a press conference on Tuesday, res- idents and NGOs reiterated their objection to the dB group's ITS Pembroke tourism development. The planning directorate's go-ahead will be discussed by the Planning Authority's Planning Board on Thursday 10 June. "We will all come and go, but our mistakes will remain for the years after. I encourage the Board to understand their responsibili- ties," St Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg said. He described the project as an obscenity that will have many negative effects on the lives of nearby residents, while praising resi- dents for attending the press conference and making their voice heard. On his part, Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat questioned the necessity of the project, and whether it is feasible for Malta's size and car- rying capacity. "Do we really need all these projects?" he asked. "The more I meet with architects the more I see that this project is unnecessary." A Pembroke resident, Rita Zammit, said that the local residents are annoyed by the project, and scared that the PA will in fact approve the permit on 10 June. She said that the project will end up bring- ing Paceville to the centre of Pembroke, with those living within a close distance from the project having no say on the issue. Zammit further noted how the project re- quires a tunnel, that will be paid for through public funds. The Planning Authority's case officer's go-ahead for dB's project is based on the assumption that Infrastructure Malta will excavate a 1.4km tunnel that must pass beneath a protected Natura 2000 site. "They will build this tunnel at all costs," she said. Andre Callus, an activist with Moviment Graffitti, explained that the fight against this project goes beyond Pembroke, and symbol- ises something bigger. "This is about the future we're imagining for Malta and Gozo," he said. "Throughout its 27 years, Moviment Graffitti have object- ed to many different projects - this is one of the worst, if not the worst project to be pro- posed." Callus appealed for the Planning Board to reject the proposal by a majority vote, but al- so to categorically state that projects of this nature should not be brought to the Board in the first place. No members of the Pembroke Local Coun- cil were present at the press conference, but Pembroke mayor Dean Hili told MaltaTo- day that the council's position on the project has remained unchanged. Residents, NGOs ask Planning Authority to reject dB's ITS project in its entirety St Julian's mayor Albert Buttigieg Swieqi mayor Noel Muscat