€400 million incinerator negotiations to start soon with project three years late

The five consortia competing for a €400 million waste-to-energy incinerator in Magħtab will be starting negotiations with an evaluation committee managed by WasteServ in the coming weeks, The Shift has confirmed.

Worth in the region of €400 million – €200 million for its design and construction and another €200 million for its operation over 20 years – it closely rivals, in terms of value, the corruption-riddled €500 million ElectroGas Delimara power station project.

It has, however, been much lower-key than the power station tender, which had been a 2013 Labour Party electoral pledge, and information on the project’s stunted progress from Environment and Energy Minister Miriam Dalli and WasteServ has been scarce.

The latest public information on the massive project dates back several months when WasteServ CEO Richard Bilocca said five consortia had been shortlisted for the complicated procurement process’ second phase. But he refrained from giving further information on the short-listed bidders.

Minister Dalli then confirmed in answer to a parliamentary question tabled last November that the five short-listed consortia were: FCC Medioambiente Internacional S.L.U (Spanish); Maghtab Gdid Energija Nadifa (Spanish); Hitachi Sozen Inova AG (Japanese) together with the Italian Terna S.A; Sacyr Industrial Operacion Y Mantenimento SL together with Valoriza Servicios Medioambientales S.A, (Spanish) and Paprec Energies International (France), in which Maltese road contractors Bonnici Brothers has a shareholding.

The latter is the only consortium that includes Maltese shareholders.

A Department of Contracts spokesperson has confirmed the names with The Shift.

According to the Department of Contracts, negotiations on the initial submissions are expected to start in the near future with representatives of the five consortia before a final call for ‘the best and final offer’.

At that stage, bidders will be shortlisted again, and a final offer will be established and awarded.

Asked by The Shift to name the members of the tender’s evaluation committee, the government declined, citing “confidentiality”.

The pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) for the facility’s design, build and operation was published in May 2020. The project was at the time meant to be up and running by the end of this year (2023).

Although it is already three years behind schedule, given its estimated three-year construction phase, the Department of Contracts said it would be difficult to establish a time frame for the final bidder to be selected and awarded the contract.

While only Paprec Energies International has a Maltese shareholder, The Shift is informed that other local contractors and businessmen are partnered with and representing the other consortia. They will be acting as sub-contractors if their bid is chosen.

The need for an incinerator has been on Malta’s waste agenda for decades. Malta is one of the EU’s main laggards in reaching waste management targets, with land-filling, an EU red line, still the predominant means of waste disposal.

Through the project, the government aims to use 192,000 tons of domestic non-recyclable waste annually, claiming it would produce 5% of the country’s energy needs.

But with the project being severely delayed and other mismanagement being reported at WasteServ, Malta’s 2030 EU waste targets remain in question.