Enemalta will be footing the bill for pollution emitted by the privately operated Bonnici Brothers “emergency” power station, Times of Malta has learnt.
A source familiar with the arrangement said this could cost the state-owned company “up to €1 million” in greenhouse gas emission credits, depending on how often the emergency power station is used.
The emission credits are sold in auctions under the EU’s emissions trading system and can be traded, requiring polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions.
UNEC, a company owned by Bonnici Brothers, in April won the €30 million tender to supply and operate the emergency diesel plant.
The plant is set to operate for 27 months as a stopgap in case of unplanned outages in any of the major power plants.
Sources said Enemalta sought legal advice on who should foot the emissions bill as the contract governing the emergency plant’s operations was “unclear” on this point.
The contract states that certain permits necessary for the plant’s installation and operation, including its generation licence and “all other permits” not mentioned in the agreement, should be handled by Bonnici Brothers, with Enemalta’s help “where possible”.
A copy of the contract was tabled in parliament last week by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, after Enemalta rejected a freedom of information request by Times of Malta for copies of all agreements signed with UNEC.
Replying to questions, an Enemalta spokesperson said the contract does not include carbon emissions allowances as one of the charges to be borne by UNEC.
The spokesperson said the €1 million figure quoted by Times of Malta “is only an accounting assumption”, since the carbon emission credits required depend on the actual operation and emissions of the plant.
“The plant has not been dispatched since its commissioning on August 28, 2024, therefore, no cost for carbon emissions allowances has been incurred during such period,” the spokesperson said.
Enemalta said the leased plant is a temporary extension to Enemalta’s existing emergency generation capacity, “and has therefore been integrated as an extension within the Enemalta greenhouse emissions permit related to [the] Delimara Power Station”.
A Bonnici Brothers consortium is also in the running for a €600 million waste-to-energy tender by Wasteserv.
The tender was originally awarded to the consortium, only for a court to revoke the decision by Wasteserv due to conflicts of interest in the evaluation and subsequent appeal before the public contracts review board.
A court ordered the state-owned waste management company to re-evaluate the tender.
Prime Minister Robert Abela has in the past acknowledged his “friendship” with some of the Bonnici Brothers’ directors, but said this in no way impacted the procurement process for the waste-to-energy plant.