The average price of electricity bought through the Malta-Italy interconnector rose by around 25% last year, when compared to 2016, Energy Minister told Parliament yesterday.

He was replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Marthese Portelli, who asked what the price of electricity through the interconnector was in December and throughout 2017.

Mizzi said the requested information was commercially sensitive and publishing the prices could prejudice Enemalta’s operations.

The company, he said, uses a mix of energy sources, including the gas-fired plant and the interconnector, to ensure a stable supply and energy prices that are among the cheapest in the European Union.

The Energy Minister also clarified that the prices of electricity in the Italian market are not the final prices that Enemalta buys energy at. There are several other expenses that need to be added to those prices, including maintenance and congestion charges, trader market scheduling fees, unbalance charges, transmission losses, excise duties and dispatch fees.

He also mentioned the recent incident in gas hub explosion in Austria, which drove energy prices upwards.

Mizzi said the price of energy imported from Italy had registered substantial increases over the last 12 months, with the price of energy usually going up during peak hours. 

Replying to another PQ by Marthese Portelli, Mizzi said the Floating Storage Unit in Marsaxlokk – the LNG tanker that is permanently moored alongside the power station – had been refuelled eight times between January and November 2017.

Mizzi also said all the different energy sources at Delimara have been used at full capacity on several occasions. The capacity levels at which each sources is operated depends on demand, he said.

The different plants had been used at full capacity on a number of occasions in view of the unprecedented demand in electricity Malta experienced last year, Mizzi said.