Power cuts happen. The fact that so many of us are immediately ready grumble as soon as the lights are off shows how much we take electricity for granted. Many seem to forget how much work goes on in the background to ensure each of us has electricity when we flip a switch. However, when power cuts keep on happening, then it means there are some pretty huge cracks in that so-called energy roadmap. 

From the very scarce news given by Enemalta, it is obvious that the best investment done by Malta has been the interconnector. You don’t even need to think about it, really. Malta is a small island with no natural resources.

It is far more cost-effective and overall beneficial to procure Malta’s energy from a liberalised energy market in Europe via several interconnectors, rather than just one. With Malta connected to the rest of the European grid, we would be able to procure cheaper energy without worrying about unsightly tankers and emissions. 

This is not rocket science. We’re not reinventing the wheel. Many of the islands around the UK already use this system. When you’re a small island, you cannot make use of economies of scale so you can never compete with mammoth energy providers around Europe. It also means you’re not tied to one type of fuel, such as gas or HFO, which can be affected by fluctuations. When you’re connected to the European grid, you can choose your energy, be it nuclear from France, hydro from Nordic countries or gas plants in Italy. 

From what Enemalta said, it is clear the country has been heavily reliant on the interconnector for emission-free, cheaper electricity. 

Did we need the gas power station run by Electrogas? This is not an easy answer as there are a lot of things to take into consideration. What is for sure is that this government made two major mistakes when it comes to its energy roadmap.

Had Enemalta invested in a second interconnector and kept the old plants mothballed, we definitely wouldn’t be where we are today

For the sake of this argument, that is, the validity of the choices made, I will not even go into the claims of corruption surrounding the Electrogas power station and the accompanying Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which ties the country for 18 years to a gas supply by SOCAR at the same price even though the current global gas prices have plummeted. 

The first wrong move was privatising Malta’s generation needs. It is already unthinkable for a supposedly left-leaning government to privatise energy supply but that is exactly what the government has done. First up, they issued a tender to privatise 200MW of Malta’s needs and then, under no scrutiny whatsoever, they even went ahead and sold the BWSC power station to Shanghai Electric as part of the sale of Enemalta.

Madness comes to mind here because Enemalta had invested in the BWSC power station and instead of waiting for a return on investment, they sold it to Shanghai Electric, who most probably have some kind of PPA for Enemalta to use the energy supplied. 

But there is another layer to this. With more than half of Malta’s energy generation privatised, Enemalta have lost all capacity for flexibility, not only in the day-to-day running of the different plants themselves but also when it comes to power cuts. When a power cut happens, Enemalta doesn’t have the resources immediately at hand to push to restore supply as soon as possible. Instead, it has to rely on two private companies for generating the energy.

Notwithstanding the amount of money Enemalta is paying to these companies through a Public Service Obligation, which includes standby capacity and emergency response, private companies will never be as quick to react as a public corporation who is accountable to the country. 

As if the privatisation of energy generation wasn’t enough, Konrad Mizzi, the then Minister for Energy, was arrogant enough to believe accidents don’t happen. Sometimes it feels like the only thing that was important to him was the building of the Electrogas plant and nothing else. No foresight, no planning for five years down the line, absolutely no backup plan in case of an emergency. 

That’s what happens when you have a government who is more interested in PR stunts then actually running a country. In the haste to close down Marsa and part of the Delimara Power Station so that they can have their parties and photo opportunities, they forgot to think about a contingency plan.

Instead of keeping the Marsa boilers and DPS 1 mothballed (stop using them but keeping them in good condition through periodical maintenance) in case of a fault on any one of the other plants, these were quickly dismantled in exchange for puerile comments about delivering on Labour’s manifesto. It might not be the most ideal situation to go back to an older plant which isn’t as efficient as, say, the BWSC plant, but in cases of emergency such as what we are facing today, it makes more sense to bring back the good old Boiler 7 or the DPS 1 plant then to pay €150,000 a day to ensure electricity keeps flowing. 

Labour’s energy roadmap was nothing but a sham to build the Electrogas power station. Had Enemalta invested in a second interconnector which would have only cost around €100 million (instead of the €480 million which Electrogas has ended up costing) and kept the old plants mothballed, we definitely wouldn’t be where we are today.

Mel Hart is a writer specialising in technology, energy and human rights and a former Enemalta spokesperson.