ElectroGas Malta (EGM) awarded to Reganosa the operation and maintenance of the Delimara regasification plant, part of a project that is the pillar on which the energy sector in Malta will be modernized, the contract signed is a key milestone for both parties.
With this alliance, EGM shall enter commercial operation of the project with Reganosa, itself a competent European TSO, for the operation and maintenance of the plant. Reganosa, on the other hand, promotes its activity in the global market from its experience as promoter and operator of infrastructures in the Spanish gas sector and in line with its strategy.
Last year, EGM, whose shareholders are Siemens PV GmbH, Socar S.A. and GEM Ltd., invited Reganosa to participate in the selection process to award the operation of the Delimara regasification plant, in the southeast of the Maltese Island. This process ended with the signature of the operation and maintenance contract between EGM and Reganosa’s Maltese subsidiary, called Reganosa Malta, at the end of 2016.
Until now, Malta’s main energy sources are heavy hydrocarbons, used in electricity generation, and light hydrocarbons, used both in power generation and in automotive. More than 98% of the electricity consumed in the country comes from fuels derived from petroleum, with the environmental disadvantages that this entails. To this end, the Government of Malta designed an environmental improvement plan for the Maltese energy sector with a more competitive energy natural gas. The project includes the Delimara regasification plant, a LNG storage vessel, the LNG Armada Mediterrana, with 125,000 cubic meters of capacity and a combined cycle plant of 215 megawatts.
The regasification plant shall also supply Enemalta, the state owned electricity generation and distribution company, with natural gas to fuel an eight-engine power plant of approximately 150MWs. The new terminal, which received its first LNG shipment on Wednesday 11th January 2017, is one of the only two in the world with FSU (Floating Storage Unit) technology, which consists in storing fuel on a ship docked at the terminal, instead of tanks on land. This is a key project for Malta´s energy transformation and its integration into the European gas system.
Source: Reganosa