Tranter: the Enemalta chief says he knew of SunPower and Vassallo’s bid
After claiming they were ‘unrelated’ events, Enemalta chairman says he knew SunPower and Vassallo Builders wanted to sell solar energy to Enemalta, through his connection in SunRay, which was acquired by SunPower
Matthew Vella Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter has admitted knowing of SunPower Corporation’s interest in selling solar energy to Enemalta, through his business connection in a solar panel company.
American solar power SunPower acquired SunRay Malta Holdings, of which Tranter was a director while serving as Enemalta chairman, in February 2010, just weeks after responding to an expression of interest for the installation of solar panels on government buildings jointly with the Vassallo Builders Group, with whom Tranter also has business connections.
“I was aware of SunPower’s interest in responding to this expression of interest through my business connection with SunRay Renewable Energy. Nonetheless I was not in any manner involved in the submission of the EOI by Vassallo Builders Group, of which I am not a director and have no direct interest or shareholding,” Tranter said in a right of reply presented by his lawyers (page 24).
Tranter is a director of several Vassallo Builders subsidiaries. However, when asked last week whether he was aware that SunPower and Vassallo Builders intended to present the EOI, Tranter claimed the two events were “completely unrelated”.
As Tranter prepares to leave Enemalta to join an unnamed multinational, he leaves behind him question marks over his private interests and the way these appeared to conflict with his role as chairman of the energy corporation.
This is the second time Tranter has had to deny a conflict of interest due to his business relationship with Vassallo Builders Group.
In 2008 he informed Enemalta’s board of directors he would abstain from any decision on the Delimara power station extension, since Danish firm BWSC was subcontracting Vassallo Builders on the civil works. This fact was only made known to the press in 2009.
Tranter has now denied having “any interest in or connection” with SunPower’s and Vassallo Builders Group’s EOI for the project to sell back solar energy to Enemalta.
Tranter is not just a director of Vassallo Builders subsidiaries Caremalta, LBM Breweries and Vassallo Joiners, but also a co-shareholder in software company Makeezi with Vassallo Builders itself, which is owned by former PN mayor Nazzareno Vasallo.
He denied that his position at SunRay opened up him up to a conflict of interest in his role at Enemalta, because he is not a SunRay shareholder and the firm has no business in Malta.
The finance ministry last week announced Tranter had voluntarily resigned his post after accepting a senior management position with a multinational abroad. There is no confirmation of whether he will be joining a SunPower subsidiary in Europe, but he has stated he holds no executive position with the American corporation.
Tranter denied having been asked to resign by the government due to his business links.
As non-executive director, Tranter put his signature to the €200 million sale of SunRay Malta Holdings to SunPower on 11 February, just weeks after the same company responded to the EOI to supply 75,000m2 of solar panels with the Vassallo Builders Group. The project, estimated to involve a private investment of €25 million, will feed in solar energy to the power grid, that will then be paid for by Enemalta.
SunRay already enjoyed a relationship with SunPower with the construction of the Montalto di Castro photovoltaic plant, the largest in Italy, in 2009.
As Enemalta chairman he led the pilot projects for the corporation’s photovoltaic installations, and supported making feed-in tariffs more realistically profitable if Enemalta was to attract the installation of more solar panels.
Tranter told MaltaToday that SunRay had no connection with these projects.
SunRay’s headquarters in Valletta house its subsidiaries SunRay Renewable Energy, SP Cordobesa and SP Quintana. The same address houses other firms with similar energy-related names, all held by the same trustee firm (which means the names of the shareholders are hidden): Alexsun1 Malta Ltd and Alexsun2 Malta Ltd, Photovoltaic Park Malta Ltd, Almyros Energy Solution Malta, Aetolia Energy Site, Raya of Success Malta Ltd, and Kozani Energy Malta Ltd.
These firms have the same directorship as SP Cordobesa and SP Quintana: auditor Edward Camilleri.
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