Siemens formally announced it has been awarded an order by Electrogas Malta for the turnkey construction of a 200 megawatt (MW) natural-gas-fired combined cycle power plant (CCPP), valued at €175 million.

 “The CCPP is part of a programme of the government of Malta to phase out the use of heavy fuel oil and switch to the use of natural gas for power production. Besides the new power plant, Electrogas Malta will provide a floating storage unit for LNG and a regasification plant to provide the natural gas fuel required both for the new CCPP and for an existing reciprocating engine power plant located at the same site, which will be converted to natural gas,” the company said.

Siemens has a 20 per cent stake in Electrogas.

In its statement, Siemens said the new plant will generate enough power to meet around 50 percent of Malta's electricity demand, and will operate at high efficiency with low emissions.

“When this new plant takes up operation, the level of air pollutants as well as fuel consumption for overall power production in Malta will be considerably reduced. Initial operation is scheduled for the summer of 2016, it said.

"The project is highly driven by the need for reliable, low cost generation and cleaner air. Siemens' high performance equipment, which operates with high efficiency and low emissions, even in part load operation, has proven to be the solution that best fits our needs. When the new plant is in operation, the levels of air pollutants and rate of fuel consumption for overall power production in Malta will be materially reduced considerably," the company quoted Michael Kunz, Project Coordinator, at Electrogas Malta as saying.