The Ministry for Energy and the Conservation of Water (MECW) in Malta together with Enemalta, the state utility, will issue an Expression of Interest for a long-term Power Purchase Agreement and a Gas Supply Agreement. Malta aims to attract new investors in LNG storage, re-gasification and natural gas supply infrastructure and a CCGT power plant.
Enemalta Corporation will run a competition for the new energy contracts and invite interested parties to register for an Expression of Interest (EoI) and Request for Qualification (RfQ), which will then be followed by a Request for Proposals (RFP). The new energy supplier will be required to supply approximately 200 MW from a new gas-fired CCGT power plant and corresponding LNG facilities which may also supply a further 150 MW of existing Enemalta plant, which will be converted to run on natural gas. In the following months, independent investors will first be pre-qualified and then will be invited to bid competitively to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement and/or a Gas Supply Agreement with a pre-condition to build, own and operate their gas and power plants at Enemalta’s Delimara site to be fully commissioned by spring 2015.
This new source will reduce Malta’s dependence on electricity produced from oil, and will result in corresponding reductions in both electricity costs and environmental emissions, in line with the European Union roadmap.