‘A petrol station in the middle of the Med’: PN’s €450 million fuel hub plan
Alex Borg wants to build bunkering infrastructure near Hurd's Bank
The Nationalist Party is proposing a fixed fuel hub off Hurds Bank to service the thousands of vessels passing through the Mediterranean.
In a news conference on Tuesday, PN leader Alex Borg said the hub will generate €450 million in revenues within three years without putting additional pressure on Malta’s infrastructure.
Borg said the hub would be a new economic niche and also be used to feed LNG to the Delimara power station via a subsea pipeline.
This plan will see the removal of the LNG tanker moored in the Marsaxlokk harbour, which Borg said is susceptible to bad weather.
Borg slammed the government for leaving the tanker moored there for 13 years, saying it was meant to be removed after three years.
The PN leader said Malta’s central position in the Mediterranean makes it a natural point to offer bunkering services.
Borg said at present, the vast flows of maritime traffic are just passing by Malta, as the country does not have the necessary facilities to fuel them.
He said Malta was losing “millions” in potential revenue to other places like Sardinia and Gibraltar, which have the necessary facilities.
No additional pressures on Malta
Locating these services off Hurds Bank will not place additional pressure on the country’s infrastructure and will reduce the ecological pressure on Malta’s ports, Borg said.
PN maritime spokesperson Ivan Castillo said the Mediterranean Maritime Fuel Hub will be based on a public-private partnership supported by European investment.
Castillo said the “future-proof” project will be able to adapt to the provision of fuels other than LNG.
He said it would create 150 high-value jobs.
Within 100 days of being elected to office, a PN government will set up a task force for the project’s implementation, Castillo said.
Between the third and fifth year of the new legislature, the public-private partnership will be set up, with an aim to finalising the project before the end of the legislature.
Castillo said the project will transform Hurds Bank from a “no-mans land” to an area that is regulated and secure.
Oliver Cini, a maritime engineer, said the LNG terminal will be hooked up to the Delimara power station by a subsea pipeline.
This will help provide security of supply and also remove the “risk” involved in having the LNG tanker moored in Marsaxlokk.
Hurds Bank lies outside Maltese territorial waters but forms part of Malta's Exclusive Economic Zone.
Borg defends €60 million solar panel plan
Replying to questions from the media, Borg defended the PN’s plans to invest €60 million in solar panels.
"We have done all our studies. It is costed. It is very doable, it is very feasible, he said. "There is enough non-arable land for it to happen – we have parking lots, government buildings and other land we will reveal in the future."
Ex-prime minister Joseph Muscat on Tuesday questioned on social media where all these solar panels would be located.
Borg said the PN’s plan will help elevate Malta from the bottom of the European Union’s renewable energy generation charts.
The PN leader insists the PN’s energy plans will deliver reductions of 30% on energy bills.
He also dismissed concerns raised by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli about the plans.
The PN leader said Dalli lacks credibility when it comes to the energy sector, having left Malta with widespread power cuts for two summers in a row, and having failed to negotiate a new LNG provision contract.