The declaration made by Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi that the power station will not be operational by June 2016 – the second deadline given by the government – shows that he and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat are living a lie, the Nationalist Party said in a statement.

What they promised after failing to reach the first deadline is now proving to be impossible to achieve, the PN said.

All this is happening apart from the fact that the government has committed itself to buy energy at a higher rate than what is available via the interconnector, given that the price of oil is 75% cheaper than what it used to be three years ago.

Power station not operational by May