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Julian Manduca
What must have been obvious to us all for years is now been written in stone: the Marsa power station will not shut down and will remain an important factor in Malta’s power generation plans.
One of the major reasons put forward to convince the nation that a power station be built in front of the fishing village of Marsaxlokk was that the Marsa power station would be phased out to the great relief of all those living in the vicinity.
The voices of then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and then environment minister Michael Falzon still ring loud: The environmentalists oppose the Delimara power station and want the people of Marsa and its environs to continue to suffer the pollution being generated. We will give clean air back to the inner harbour area, it was claimed in response to arguments put forward by environmentalists opposing the siting of the power station at Delimara.
That was the message given by the Nationalist Party in government during the late 1980s when it conducted a campaign described by environmentalists at the time as one based on deceitful advertising to convince the public that Delimara was the best site for a power station.
Pollution continues
While the old, but renovated equipment should have been phased out it is now clear that the Marsa power station is an integral part of Malta’s energy generating future. While the power station has been fitted with precipitators that prevent polluting particulate matter from being emitted, it continues to emit sulphur dioxide which is responsible for various respiratory. While Delimara’s pollution is largely taken out to sea by the north winds, the towns of Paola, Tarxien and Fgura are in the direct line of the sulphur dioxide emissions from Marsa.
The Marsa power station was first built under the Marshall aid programme to assist Malta after the war damage and the first steam units were commissioned in 1953.
No derogation on Marsa plant sought from EU
While demand for electricity has increased heavily, the plans to expand the Delimara station so that Marsa would not longer be necessary have not materialised and minister Austin Gatt has confirmed to MaltaToday that: “Malta, like any country since the Industrial Revolution, relies on electricity and electricity is generated in power stations. One of Malta’s power stations is in Marsa. Put simply: no power station, no electricity.”
The promise made to close down the Marsa power station was made loud and clear in the 80s but it is evident that the government never planned to close it down and commissioned a steam generator in 1985, a steam turbine in 1987 and an open cycle gas turbine in 1990. During the negotiations with the EU, while a derogation was obtained on the Delimara power station with respect to fine dust emissions, no specific arrangement was sought for the Marsa power station which is now meant to be in line with EU standards. According to the Malta EU Information Centre, should the Marsa plant not be in line with EU regulations it should be closed down. Asked whether the Marsa power station was in line with EU standards, Minister Gatt did not reply by the time of going to press.
Expansion plans curtailed?
MaltaToday is informed that expansion plans at Delimara have been curtailed and that Enemalta’s attention is being re-directed towards Marsa, but when this newspaper asked Austin Gatt whether that was true the minister said: “You are mistaken. Delimara power station has been expanded and now runs with two steam turbines, a combined cycle plant and two open cycle gas turbines.”
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