Updated 5 pm

The Nationalist Party has called for Malta’s power distribution sector to be opened up to private companies, arguing this will help ensure its efficiency and consistency.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Opposition leader Bernard Grech proposed a nine-point plan to address the recent crisis of multi-day power cuts that hit the country over the past two weeks.

“This is not a coincidence,” Grech said on the power cuts. “This is a result of Robert Abela’s government’s incredible lack of care.”

PN MP and energy spokesperson Mark Anthony Sammut argued that the future of Malta’s power distribution lies in a liberalised system, one that allows private companies to operate.

This pillar would mean that private companies would be able to invest within the distribution infrastructure. The competition would push efficiency as consumers will be able to choose the better service, Sammut said.

Currently, power distribution is the sole remit of state-run company Enemalta. 

Sammut said that although Malta currently has an EU derogation to keep power distribution public, the exemption expires in 2027, meaning the time has arrived to introduce a regulator to prepare for the privatised shift.

“We don’t just believe in the capacity of the private sector, but we believe in their role to join the country’s current infrastructure,” PN MP Ryan Callus added. 

Reducing peak load

The Opposition presented its plan just as the government, led by Prime Minister Robert Abela, met with social partners for an emergency Malta Council for Economic Development meeting. 

Aside from its proposal to liberalise the energy market, the PN's plan focused on eight other points that fall under two categories: the strengthening of the current distribution infrastructure and the reduction of peak load pressure on the system.

Grech argued that the Labour government did not follow through on the Nationalist’s plan to strengthen the distribution network and had failed to further invest in the system.

He emphasised that the country’s population growth is only going to make matters worse, with other infrastructure - such as traffic-filled roads and student-bursting classrooms - also heaving under the strain. 

The strengthening of the country’s distribution is based on several fronts, Sammut said, such as prioritising the improvement of the 11kV and low voltage networks by introducing several backup cables. This is currently done up to the level of 33kV and allows for wires to fail as power can be redirected through one of its backups, he said.

Other points in the PN plan speak of analysing data from smart meters. Currently, these are only used for billing purposes, but the PN believes the meters can be used to indicate low voltage areas.

Enemalta’s procurement process also needs to be revamped, Sammut continued, to include factors outside of cost, such as material quality.

Operator should be bound by 99.5% availability rate

People should also be given more security when it comes to the availability of their power, he said, so an availability rate of 99.5% should be imposed on the operator while automatic compensation should be introduced.

This compensation will be proportional to the amount of time spent without power and will be separate from compensation for damaged materials and appliances, which they are also proposing. 

The final points focus on reducing peak-hour loads by creating incentives for energy-efficient buildings and the use of solar panels for companies working in government industrial parks.

Off-peak rates

Sammut also proposed the installation of batteries at critical points within the network which will increase the resilience of the system.

He also called for off-peak hourly rates to be introduced. Currently, Enemalta only offers off-peak rates for electric vehicle charging. 

Sammut said that the off-peak rate needs to be lower than the 10.47c per unit that Enemalta currently offers. 

The MP also noted that off-peak hours need to be revised. Those provided for EV charging currently include 12pm to 4pm, while according to Enemalta, 2pm was one of the peak hours during the outages.

Incentivise energy efficiency

Another proposal being floated by the PN is to introduce tax and other incentives to make buildings more energy efficient, based on their Energy Performance Certificate ratings. 

Currently, an EPC is a requirement when selling a property, but a property's rating is of no consequence. 

On the industrial side, companies occupying land in industrial estates and using building roofs to generate energy through PV panels should get fiscal incentives for doing so, Sammut added.  

Grech: 'Labour has done almost nothing' 

The reason why PN is proposing “imminent and studied” solutions is because of their obligation to the country during its “state of emergency,” Grech said.

“What has Robert Abela done since [the last election]? Nothing. What has the Labour government done in the past decade? Almost nothing,” he said.

When asked about the costs of the plan, Grech said that this “serious” plan will not lead to the loss of more than €200 million due to a breakdown in the country’s distribution network, a figure that was released by the PN on Wednesday.

Grech emphasised that the costs of the investments have yet to be established, as they first need to take stock of what improvements the government has done so far, but he reiterated that everyone knows that Abela has done nothing on the matter.

Proposals pushing a neoliberal agenda - Żminijietna

In a press release on Friday, Left-wing thinktank Żminijietna criticised the PN’s proposal, saying it was taking advantage of the current situation “to push a neoliberal agenda on the energy sector”. 

Total liberalisation of the energy sector would create affordability problems and will not ensure energy security, they said, urging the government to focus on keeping energy affordable and stable as well as investing in green energy.