Updated - adds minister's comments
Liquefied gas will be stored on a ship permanently berthed at Delimara, according to plans submitted by the winning bidder for a gas-fired power station.
Yorgen Fenech, a director at Gem Holdings, the Maltese company with a 30 per cent stake in the winning consortium, said the specialised storage ship has already been contracted.
Gem Holdings is composed of the Tumas and Gasan groups and has partnered with German firm Siemens, the commodities trading arm of Azerbaijan’s State energy firm Socar and UK company Gasol to form Electro Gas Malta consortium. The consortium was yesterday chosen by Enemalta to build a gas-fired power plant and related gas-handling infrastructure.
A floating storage depot was the best option to ensure the company could make the tight deadlines imposed by the Government, Mr Fenech explained. The storage ship will have capacity of 126,000 cubic metres.
BEST OPTION - MINISTER
Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said having a floating depot was advantageous. If a mishap happened on land, the depot could be moved away, he said. Furthermore, this option allowed for flexibility in that if new storage facilities were available, the storage depot could simply sail away, the minister told One TV.
The minister also said that Enemalta workers would be seconded to the new company under current conditions, but will remain on Enemalta's books.
Full story in The Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.