Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/783519
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2017 News 6 Enemalta chairman: "Interconnector vulnerable, more power cuts possible" PAUL COCKS THE executive chairman of En- emalta said yesterday that the in- terconnector between Malta and Sicily was vulnerable to damage and interruption and that further power cuts were therefore possible, until the new LNG plant – Deli- mara 4 – became fully operational. A nationwide blackout that plunged Malta and Gozo in dark- ness on Monday night and during the morning yesterday was caused by a fault in the interconnector at the Sicilian end, minister Konrad Mizzi said yesterday. The minister, who retains re- sponsibility for the energy portfolio despite a demotion over the Pana- ma Papers scandal, apologised for the power failures, saying he was disappointed. Flanked by Enemalta executive chairman Fredrick Azzo- pardi, Mizzi held a media briefing to explain the cause of the two ma- jor power cuts in less than seven hours. "Both power cuts were caused by the fault the interconnector experi- enced in Ragusa," Mizzi said. He announced that the gas power plant, Labour's energy pledge, is set to start operating in the coming days, when the bulk of use will be switched from the interconnector onto the new power station. "The interconnector will be used when required and when it is more cost- effective than the gas-fired power plant," he said. Mizzi however reiterated that the power cuts proved that security of supply was of vital importance – al- though the island is now depending in the main on the cheaper electric- ity supply from the interconnector instead of the oil-fired Delimara power station. Circuit breaker trips causing interconnector to shut down The first alarm indicating there was a problem on the company's system in Ragusa was registered at 10:15pm on Monday, followed by a second alarm at 1:39am when a circuit breaker at the Terna station tripped, switching off the system in Ragusa and the interconnector. At the moment of the power cut, the interconnector was supply- ing 132MW of electricity with an additional 58MW from Delimara 1. The complete shutdown of the interconnector was registered at 1:43am, four minutes after Deli- mara 1 lost half of its supply. At 2:59am, Enemalta starting switching on its emergency gas turbines, with electricity being re- supplied to the local grid at 3:09am. Meanwhile, Italian engineers turned up at the Terna station at 3:30am and the interconnector was turned on again at 3:40am. Full synchronisation was com- pleted at 4:30am and Malta was re- connected to the Italian grid. Full provision was reached at 5:35am. But at 8:30am, Enemalta lost half the grid load again because the interconnector was once again switched off in Sicily. Enemalta would travel to Sicily as the company was looking into why the interconnector was switched off twice in a few hours. Initial reports suggest that some water may have entered the Ragusa sta- tion and damaged some Enemalta equipment – the Maghtab Termi- nal Station in Malta links directly to the Ragusa Terminal. "At the moment we are keeping the load on the interconnector as low as possible," Azzopardi said. "First reports indicate that some stormwater may have entered the Ragusa station, causing the Ene- malta circuit breaker to trip. It is as yet unclear if any damage has been sustained." When asked when specifically the new plant would be opera- tional, he said that the Delimara 4 plant was already operational and was currently undergoing inten- sive 'hot-testing'. "We calculate this testing will take some weeks to en- sure the plant is safe to operate at full capacity." Azzopardi stressed that the inter- connector supply was vulnerable to damage and interruption, leaving the country susceptible to further power cuts until the Delimara 4 starts operating at capacity. He confirmed that – until the new LNG plant became fully op- erational at its maximum output capacity – the Marsa power station would possibly need to be turned on in the case of extensive inter- ruption to the interconnector sup- ply. No fixed formula will be used to determine the load spread chosen to provide electricity, even once Delimara 4 becomes fully opera- tional. Instead, the most commercially advantageous load distribution – spread across the interconnector, the new LNG Plant and the Deli- mara 3 BWSC plant (which will be converted to gas) – would be cho- sen. Mizzi also confirmed that a Bel- gian company was currently study- ing the best route for a gas pipeline between Malta and Sicily. He said the study would be com- pleted by the summer, but would not commit himself to a comple- tion date for the project. The de facto energy minister Konrad Mizzi (centre) apologised for the second power failure of 2017 Ministerial secretariats 'restricted' to 20 people CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The least number of persons engaged on a position of trust basis are found in the Ministry for Social Dialogue, two, although the number of per- sons of trust stands at 16. The Ministry for the Economy said it had 0 persons employed on a position of trust basis, but 18 are employed as persons of trust. Last year, principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar said the civil service was in the process of finalising clear regulations which better define what a position of trust means. Advisors and consult- ants are considered to hold a posi- tion of trust, who according to the Public Administration Act should be appointed on a definite contract. According to Standards in Pub- lic Life Bill, a person of trust will be defined as employment in any ministry, parliamentary secretariat or in any department or other en- tity of the government wherein the employee has not been engaged ac- cording to civil service rules under the Constitution. Under public service rules, min- isterial secretariats had to be re- stricted to 20 people with strictly- named positions, with just two individuals only being recruited from outside the civil service. These were known as "positions of trust", filled through secondment of civil servants from various de- partments. In 1998, the Cabinet approved a standard organisation structure for each and every secretariat with fixed positions, preventing posts from being created on a whim and with positions pegged to the appro- priate public service salary scales. Consultants were also engaged at ministry level, which meant minis- ters could take on persons of trust from outside the civil service. In 2013, many persons of trust employed inside ministerial secre- tariats were moved into permanent civil service positions or public sec- tor jobs, a move which the Depart- ment of Information had described as anti-constitutional since it was carried out without a selection pro- cess. Eleven individuals who were em- ployed on this person-of-trust ba- sis by the previous administration were given a job by the government without following the normal en- rolment channels. Principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar said reforms to the system on his watch would abolish such jobs from being turned into permanent posts. The PN's own governance pledge proposes that positions of trust be strictly limited and not made use of other than where inevitable as in ministries and parliamentary secretariats. Ministry Position of Trust Person of Trust Total Competitiveness and the Digital Economy 3 13 16 Economy 0 18 18 Environment and Sustainable Development 12 53 65 Health 4 15 19 Home Affairs 12 22 34 Justice, Culture and Local Government 62 4 66 Social Dialogue and Civil Liberties 2 16 18 Tourism 3 15 18 Transport and Infrastructure 10 14 24