The demolition of the old Delimara power station chimney will be completed today, Monday, Enemalta announced.

The chimney, which stood at a height of 50 storeys, was the tallest structure on the island until it began to be demolished over the past months.   

Enemalta Chairman Kevin Chircop explained that it was a procedure filled with challenges, and that three metres of the chimney were dismantled every day.  One such challenge was the strong winds that workers sometimes had to face during the winter months.  Indeed, works had to cease when wind speeds peaked above 30 kilometres per hour, Chircop explained.

A platform was used to dismantle the chimney, starting from its summit and moving downwards in one and a half metre intervals.  The platform had to be moved around 80 times in total, until the chimeny was reduced from its 150 metre height to just 30 metres.

Photos James Caruana

Enemalta was overseeing the demolition in the most environmentally-friendly manner possible, with as much as possible of the waste material, which includes construction waste and old metalwork, from the demolition being recycled, Chircop said.

Minister for Energy Joe Mizzi spoke of his satisfaction at how the process had gone, saying that all the targets for the demolition had been met despite the challenges that Enemalta had faced.

He noted that Enemalta has invested €100 million to strengthen its distribution of electricity, with another €20 million already approved for the rest of this year and next year.

Mizzi commented on the fact that there has been a 2.7% increase in the demand for electricity when compared to the same period last year, but also added that despite this the amount of unexpected power cuts had decreased by 20%.

Mizzi said that people are expecting more from both him and Enemalta, and said that whilst he felt that most are content, it was important that they continued to build on the solid foundations of the previous months and years to keep improving the service being given.