A business plan for Enemalta’s recovery is being discussed with Shanghai Electric as part of studies to determine the size and the price of the stake the Chinese company will be buying in the corporation.

Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi told Parliament the stake in Enemalta would only be a small part of the Chinese company’s investment, since the project would also include the manufacture of solar energy equipment facilities for the maintenance of overseas power stations.

Shanghai Electric, a subsidiary of China Power Investments, will inject around €200 million to reduce the corporation’s debt, he said.

Referring to Opposition criticism that the Government had emphasised Enemalta’s debts while ignoring its assets, Dr Mizzi said it was worth pointing out that the land in Delimara on which the power station was located had been transferred to the Special Purpose Vehicle by the previous government. Only the part on which the BWSC power station was built was owned by Enemalta.

Moreover, he said former Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had offered to sell the corporation to the chairman of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association for €1. This showed the PN government wanted to throw away the company, while this administration valued its importance to the Maltese economy.

The Minister said that a contract signed by the opposition when in government with the BWSC reflected the worse practices possible, at a time when Malta was ranked in the worst position in Europe for the creation of renewable energy.

Enemalta was not being privatised, and it was not true that this agreement posed a problem to Maltese entrepreneurs who wished to invest in photovoltaic cells. The minister assured there was also space for the private sector in energy.

Minister Mizzi said the MOU signed with Libya would make Malta an energy hub in the Mediterranean while also starting joint oil exploration.