A €37 million emergency power plant will be in operation "within a few days" of its delivery in July, Enemalta has promised.

The Delimara power plant is being built by Bonnici Brothers-owned UNEC Ltd, which in April was awarded a contract to build the 60-megawatt power plant for €37 million.

The company is bound to build the plant in Delimara by the beginning of July and operate it for two years until Malta gets a second undersea interconnector to Sicily.

In February, Enemalta's chief executive chairman Ryan Fava successfully applied to waive an Environmental Impact Assessment, warning of the urgency of having the plant in place "by summer 2024" to "avoid a repeat" of last summer's power cuts. 

Responding to questions, a spokesperson for Enemalta said: "The emergency generation plant is expected to be delivered in July and should be operable within a few days thereafter.”

The spokesperson added there are “penalties for delay contemplated in the contract if the plant is not made available within the stipulated time.”

He said that while Enemalta could supply up to 895 megawatts of power, the power plant was being built “in case of an unplanned outage of one of the largest sources during the peak demand seasons.”

The plant was first announced in last year’s Budget speech and was originally estimated by the government to cost €12 million – a figure that later skyrocketed to €46 million before later being awarded to the Bonnici Brothers-owned company for €36.94 million.

UNEC Ltd is an importer of industrial equipment, from heavy machinery to marine engines, but it is not clear what experience, if any, the company has constructing power plants – a requirement of the tender issued by Enemalta which called for applicants to have built at least one other power station worth at least €5 million in the past.