Enemalta to dismantle oldest Delimara Power Station plant.

04.02.2016

Enemalta plc is receiving offers for the dismantling of the oldest plant at the Delimara Power Station, including its chimney, boilers and other equipment.

The dismantling of this plant is expected to begin as soon as the ongoing projects to transform the country’s energy mix and adopt cleaner, more efficient sources and technologies, including gas-fired plants, are completed.

The 1992 Delimara Power Station Phase 1 plant includes two HFO-fired conventional boilers feeding two 60 MW turbo alternator steam turbines, a chimney and other auxiliary equipment. The chimney, a 12-metre diameter concrete and steel construction rising 150 metres above ground level, is the highest structure in the Maltese Islands. The reinforced concrete chimney walls are over two metres thick at the bottom and 0.6 metres on top. They house two steel flues with an inside diameter of 2.3 metres.

Prospective bidders for the demolition contract are being asked to provide detailed method statements for the removal of each structure, with particular attention to adherence to all applicable health and safety standards and waste management regulations. Enemalta architects, engineers and project managers will be supervising all works to ensure that the dismantling works do not compromise the security of other electricity generation and distribution infrastructure within the Delimara Power Station site.

All plans and method statements have to be finalised as soon as possible so that the dismantling works can begin once the necessary alternative capacity is available and other projects at the same site are completed. A new gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine plant, the Delimara Power Station Phase 4, and related regasification facilities are currently under construction. Meanwhile, Enemalta’s strategic partner Shanghai Electric Power is in the process of converting the existing Phase 3 Plant from heavy fuel oil to natural gas.

Commenting on this development, the Hon. Konrad Mizzi, Minister for Energy and Health, explained that this development is an important step forward in the process to remove heavy fuel oil from Malta’s energy mix. It started with the shutting down of the Marsa Power Station in March 2014 and will continue at the Delimara Power Station with the contract for the removal of the oldest plant still in operation.

“By shifting to an energy mix based on natural gas later this year, Malta will be saving almost one million tonnes of CO² emissions, whilst other pollutants, including particulate matter, will decrease by 90%. Getting rid of this air pollution and its effects on residents in Marsaxlokk and other areas in the southern part of the Island is one of the best environmental projects ever undertaken to improve air quality in Malta and Gozo.”