Antich will demand guarantees for the summer season

Antich's government is concerned at the high energy consumption in the Balearics, particularly in summer, when the population swells with tourism.
He is due to have talks tomorrow with Rodolfo Martin Villa, the president of Endesa, at the Consolat de la Mar tomorrow. High on the agenda will be the need to guarantee supplies during the summer. Also due for discussion are the master plan for energy in the Balearics, the need for more local companies to become “qualifed customers” of GESA, which means they will be charge less for power, and the arrival of natural gas in the islands. Misericordia Ramon, the Balearic minister of innovation and energy, will also be at tomorrow's meeting, and will present Martin Villa with a draft agreement expressing all her department's concerns in the field of energy. Ramon said yesterday that she was worried at the lack of “a written commitment” from GESA to guarantee electricity supplies in the high season. She pointed out that consumption has increased by 30 per cent since 1997. GESA has said that the service is guaranteed and says that the four new gas turbines wich are being installed at Son Reus will enter into service before July. They will cover any possible failure at the Es Murterar power station in Alcudia. Antich, for his part, has had to deny that his government is interested in generating alarm about the energy problems in the islands. “Encouraging saving and asking GESA to take steps is not an attempt to generate alarm but an attempt to put the resources to the best possible use,” the chief minister said.