This morning HE the Governor Lt General Ed Davis, the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia and the Minister for Economic Development, Sir Joe Bossano and other officials were briefed on the operations of the new power station and the LNG plant on the North Mole.

The briefings were conducted by the CEO of the GEA, Michael Caetano, and the Gibraltar Project Head for Shell, respectively.

A spokesperson for the Government said it was a particularly appropriate time for their visit as, yesterday afternoon, one of the three dual-use engines was powered up for the first time and contributed power into Gibraltar’s grid.

"In addition to the dual-use engines, there are another three which will run only on LNG. Each one of these six engines can provide about as much power as the whole output of the current Waterport Power Station."

The Deputy Chief Minister said, “The group that attended the briefing could not fail to be impressed at the excellent progress which is being made on both sites. It was important to note that, at every stage of our visit, we were shown the full range of safety and environmental features, many of which are additional to what may exist elsewhere and which are unique to Gibraltar. These new facilities will guarantee our power generation for many years to come and will have a huge positive impact on Gibraltar’s air quality.”