The government once again has tried to shift the goalposts for the completion of the new gas-fired power station to be able to claim that the project was completed early - when it is completed, that is.
On 2 December 2014, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had clearly stated, both during a press conference and in Parliament, that the first electricity from gas would be delivered in June 2016. Yet today he said that the ‘construction phase’ of the power station would be completed by next June and that this would have to be followed by a testing and commissioning phase.
This means that the power station will, for sure, not be operational by the deadline established by the the minister last year.
Although he did not mention how long this phase would take, testing and commissioning usually takes at least two months – which would mean that the power station would only become operational after June. If that is the case, this will be the second delay.
Questioned by journalists at a press conference today, Dr Mizzi would not commit to the June deadline, but insisted that the power station would start producing energy from gas “in the summer.”
The PL had originally promised to deliver an operational power station by March 2015 – just two years after the election. Yet it quickly became clear that the target would not be reached. This paper had visited the site just six months before the supposed commissioning and no work at all had been carried out.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Konrad Mizzi – after being persistently questioned by this newspaper – had admitted that the deadline would not be reached. They said the delay would be “months, not years.” Then, in December 2014, Konrad Mizzi pledged that the new power station would become operational by June 2016. Again, this deadline will not be met.
Last week, the government had also tried to give the impression that the project would be completed earlier than planned, but it might have actually revealed that the project will suffer another delay or, at best, be completed - its construction, that is - by the deadline, and not earlier.
In the meantime Konrad Mizzi criticised Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil’s Sunday remarks on the topic, insisting that the PN had no plan for the energy sector.