Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/396532
maltatoday, Sunday, 12 OctOber 2014 5 energy theft and the interconnector. He said that Enemalta's business plan will make it possible for the public limited company to refund the reduction for businesses over a number of years. "The gas power plant was one of the main blocks, albeit the biggest, in the whole pic- ture." During the first three years, En- emalta is expected to continue mak- ing losses and start making profit in the fourth year. When Labour took office in 2013, Enemalta's debts had reached €840 million. "Energy theft was rampant and the interconnector construction was running two years behind schedule," Mizzi said. "Enemalta could not be saved with- out the Chinese investment," he said of the SEP €320 million acquisition. "The state utility's situation had credit rating agencies sounding alarm bells, and the government's finances were being negatively affected." The Labour government made the LNG plant one of four critical projects in its energy reforms. "The first key project was to reduce En- emalta's debt and improve its finan- cial stability. This is where SEP's in- vestment came in," Mizzi said. A €100 million cash injection from SEP is expected to be registered by year-end, while the company ac- quired the 'BWSC plant' for €220 million, of which €70 million will be utilised for the conversion of the plant to gas. Enemalta's loss for 2014, the min- ister added, will be less than €20 mil- lion, "much less than projected". He said an important milestone in the project was the decommission- ing of the Marsa power station, ex- pected to take place within the com- ing months; and that the Malta-Sicily interconnector will be completed by the end of the year and finally start testing in January 2015. Works on the site of the new LNG plant are currently underway. The Electrogas plant will be taking up around half of Labour's energy mix for the generation of power, while the rest will be split between the BWSC plant and the intercon- nector. Mizzi said the marginal cost of using gas supplied by Electrogas will be "significantly cheaper" than through the interconnector. He reiterated that the government had been "very firm" with Electrogas during contract discussions. "Once we give clearance, every- thing has to work according to the timeline. Electrogas bound its con- tractors to these timelines. It is a complicated project with a number of projects working in parallel: you have Siemens building a plant, con- tractors working on site, ships com- ing from another company and so on." Mizzi insisted that little had changed in Labour's plan following the party's election to government "The Prime Minister insisted for a floating storage unit that would be easily replaced by a pipeline. When we launched our energy plan, the biggest focus was on the gas project. But it soon became clear, from En- emalta's realities, that the gas project on its own was not going to be enough to deliver on the main pledg- es," Mizzi said. mdalli@mediatoday.com.mt Busuttil: Muscat must deliver Electrogas negotiations reopened Chinese share acquisition 7HUPVDQGFRQGLWLRQVDSSO\5HSUHVHQWDWLYHH[DPSOHRI&ODVVLF+RPH/RDQEDVHGRQDORDQDPRXQWRIbEHLQJPDGHDYDLODEOHWRDÜUVWWLPHEX\HUE\+6%&%DQN0DOWDSOFDWDGLVFRXQWHGYDULDEOHERUURZLQJLQWHUHVWUDWHRIIRUWKHÜUVWPRQWKVDQGDYDULDEOHERUURZLQJLQWHUHVWUDWHRISD IRUWKHUHPDLQLQJPRQWKV7KH$35&ZLOOEHSD7KHORDQZLOOEHUHSD\DEOHLQHTXDOPRQWKO\LQVWDOPHQWVRIbHTXDOPRQWKO\LQVWDOPHQWVRIbDQGRQHÜQDOLQVWDOPHQWRIbRYHUDWHUPRI\HDUV7KHWRWDOVXPSD\DEOHWKURXJKRXWWKHWHUPRIWKHORDQDVVXPLQJWKHLQWHUHVWUDWH UHPDLQVXQFKDQJHGZLOOEHb$SSOLFDEOHFKDUJHVRQWKLVORDQDUHDVIROORZVsSURFHVVLQJIHHRIbSURFHVVLQJOHJDOIHHRIbXSGDWLQJRIVHDUFKHVIHHRIbIHHIRUSRVWGHHGFKHFNLQJRIK\SRWKHFDU\FKDUJHRIbDQGDFORVLQJRIDFFRXQWIHHRIb7KHORDQLVWREHVHFXUHGE\DÜUVWUDQNLQJ K\SRWKHFDQGVSHFLDOSULYLOHJHRYHUWKHSURSHUW\EHLQJÜQDQFHGDÜUVWUDQNLQJSOHGJHRYHUDOLIHDVVXUDQFHSROLF\FRYHULQJWKHZKROHORDQDPRXQWDQGDEXLOGLQJVLQVXUDQFHSROLF\IRUWKHUHSODFHPHQWFRVWRIWKHSURSHUW\EHLQJÜQDQFHG,IUHSD\PHQWVDUHQRWPDLQWDLQHGWKHEDQNPD\WDNHVWHSVWRVHOOWKHSURSHUW\ ÜQDQFHGIROORZLQJOHJDOSURFHHGLQJVDQGWKHERUURZHUPD\ORVHKLVSURSHUW\ $SSURYHGDQGLVVXHGE\+6%&%DQN0DOWDSOFZKLFKLVDFUHGLWLQVWLWXWLRQOLFHQVHGE\WKH0)6$LQWHUPVRIWKH%DQNLQJ$FW5HJLVWHUHGDGGUHVV$UFKELVKRS6WUHHW9DOOHWWD9/70DOWD Call 2380 2380 &OLFN hsbc.com.mt/home 9LVLW your local branch 606 send text message "MY HOME" to 7900 2380 (Normal SMS tariffs apply) Off the shelf? Not us. &RPHWDONWRXVDERXWRXUWDLORUPDGH+RPH/RDQV 2XUH[SHULHQFHKDVWDXJKWXVWKDWRXUFXVWRPHUVKDYHGLIIHUHQWQHHGVZKHQ LWFRPHVWREX\LQJDKRXVHDQGWKDWRQHVL]HGRHVQRWÜWDOOZKHQLWFRPHVWR KRPHORDQV7KDWLVZK\RXU/HQGLQJ6SHFLDOLVWVZLOOGLVFXVV\RXUQHHGVZLWK \RXDQGWDLORUPDNHD+RPH/RDQIRU\RXUSDUWLFXODUUHTXLUHPHQWVJLYLQJ\RX DOOWKHJXLGDQFH\RXQHHGVRWKDWWKHMRXUQH\WRRZQLQJ\RXUKRPHZLOOEHDV VPRRWKDVSRVVLEOH7DONWRXVWRGD\ OPPOSITION leader Simon Bu- suttil yesterday criticised the prob- able delay in the construction of a new gas power station, insisting that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should honour his electoral prom- ise of completing the new plant by March 2015. "The government's main promise while in opposition was to build a new gas station that will lead to the reduction of water and electricity bills," he said, adding that Muscat "should honour this promise." "A lot of people have called the PN to say that their electricity and water bills haven't decreased," Bu- suttil said. "What interests me and the people is whether the govern- ment will do what it promised," Busuttil said in reply to whether delays in large projects under both this and previous administrations contributed to the public's disillu- sionment with the political class. "We know what happened in the past but we're looking at the present now. Labour criticised delays in projects when in Oppo- sition and it is now delaying on a number of projects while in gov- ernment – the parliament build- ing, the oncology department, the interconnector... the power station is the cherry on the cake. Busuttil yesterday presented the chairpersons of 10 new policy for a, six of whom were women. Among these chairpersons, Na- tionalist MEP Therese Comodini Cachia has been tasked to come up with a long-term vision for the par- ty and revise party policies. "This is a very important milestone for the PN," Busuttil said. "These policy fora and experts will challenge the current perception of the PN and show that even in opposition, we are a party that is a workshop of new ideas, that looks to the future, not the past." The fora will be open to public consultation from professionals and other people. The 10 chairpersons are: Valerie Sollars (education), Maria Cassar (health), Albert Bell (social renew- al), Maria Attard (environment and agriculture), David Felice (cul- ture and creativity), Rita Mifsud (Gozo), Ivan Bartolo (economy and employment), Joseph Giglio (home affairs), Vicky Ann Cremo- na (European affairs) and Therese Comodini Cachia (long-term vi- sion and coordinator). Joseph Muscat hugged by a representative of Shanghai Electric Power at the signing of the agreement on Chinese equity investment in Enemalta. Looking on (right) is Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi