Summary sheet
The project will finance the construction of a new high-voltage electrical subsea cable interconnection between Maghtab in Malta and Ragusa in Sicily. The cable will have an approximate length of 122 km, a capacity of 225 MW, and a nominal voltage of 220 kV.
The new cable will operate in parallel with the existing one connected to the same substations in Malta and Italy.
The Project will increase the electricity interconnection capacity between Malta and Sicily, Italy. The infrastructure is planned to be used by Malta to import electricity from Italy, addressing market failures related to security of supply and decarbonisation. By securing the enabling energy infrastructure, the Project contributes to the EIB's Sustainable energy and natural resources public policy goal. Also, it supports the Bank's cross-cutting objectives for Climate action and Environmental Sustainability, Economic and social cohesion and, partially, Security and Defence. The Project policy contribution is deemed very good.
The Project will increase Malta's security of supply, enabling the fulfilment of the "n-1" requirement, that is the ability to meet demand in case of unavailability of the largest supply infrastructure. At the same time, the investment will allow Malta meeting demand growth. Also, thanks to the Project, the Maltese power system will be able to manage an increasing penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources, further indirectly contributing to decarbonisation. On this basis, the Project is expected to return excellent economic and social benefits. The capacity of the Promoter to implement and operate the Project is good. Subject to proper mitigations and compensations of the negative environmental and social impacts, the Project is acceptable in environmental and social terms. The employment impact of the Project is rated good, according to the Bank's methodology.
Specific advisory support was provided by the Bank services through a dedicated JASPERS assignment at Project preparation stage, so the EIB technical contribution is deemed excellent.
The EIB financing offers favourable terms, such as long tenors, sizeable amount and flexible drawing conditions, and provides diversity of financing sources to the Republic of Malta.
Given its technical characteristics the project is listed neither under Annex I nor Annex II of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU. The project was however undergone an EIA assessment both in Malta and Italy. In Malta, the EIA was approved in August 2023, and the development permit was issued in January 2024. In Italy, the permitting process began with the submission of the application in August 2023, granting a Construction and Operation permit on 18th December 2024. Screening approval was granted by Regione Sicilia in August 2024, and the public consultation concluded positively in October 2024. Typical impacts that can be expected for the project on both terrestrial and marine environment include habitat damage or loss, noise, chemical pollution, heat and electric field emissions. The most significant impacts that have been identified are during implementation, they are limited and mostly reversible. The permit and the underlying EIA studies confirm that, subject to the implementation of the specified mitigating measures, the project would neither have significant adverse effects on the environment nor adversely affect the integrity of any European site in relation to the site's conservation objectives. The Project is expected to contribute to climate action and environmental sustainability (CA&ES) objectives, in particular to climate mitigation.
The promoter shall ensure that contracts for implementation of the Project have been and will be tendered in accordance with the applicable EU procurement legislation, Directive 2014/25/EU as well as Directive 92/13/EEC as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the EU Official Journal, as and where required.