The documents on the government’s energy plan filed in Parliament on Wednesday are just a copy of the agreement that was given to the media last month after the deal signed with Shanghai Electric, The Malta Independent can reveal.
On Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela, on behalf of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, tabled a copy of the Energy Sector Cooperation agreement between Enemalta Corporation, SEP Malta Holdings Ltd and Shanghai Electric Corporation.
The government said it was tabling the document after the Opposition had “blocked” the parliamentary debate, with the PN saying it could not debate an issue without having all relevant documents in hand.
Yesterday, The Malta Independent went to the House of Representatives to pick up a copy of the agreement tabled, only to find out that the document tabled was the same agreement that the media was given in December.
On 12 December, the government signed a €320 million investment deal with the Chinese energy company, allowing Shanghai Electric to take a 33% stake in Enemalta, for which it will pay €100 million and purchase a 90% shareholding in the BWSC plant for €150 million. Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had said there will be no contractual obligation to buy a minimum amount of energy from the BWSC plant, and reassured that Enemalta employees will continue being employed by the government.
On that day, the media was given a copy of the agreement, which was the same tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
Since the agreement was signed in December, the Opposition has been calling on the government to publish all relevant agreements, before the issue is debated in parliament. PN’s deputy leader Mario de Marco argued that there are at least five contracts which should be published: the agreement selling 33% of Enemalta and 90% of the BWSC plant to Chinese state-owned company Shanghai Electric, the power purchase agreement with Shanghai Electric, the agreement with the ElectroGas Malta consortium on the construction of a new power station, the power purchase agreement with ElectroGas, and the seven-year business plan of the Enemalta Corporation.