Enemalta this afternoon held out the possibility that the power station extension will be handed over from BWSC by the end of the month.

The new plant was shut down during testing after a fault in a steam turbine. The turbine was shipped to Britain, repair and reinstalled, but the plant was then shut down once more by BWSC amid disagreement with Enemalta over how commissioning tests should proceed.

In statement today, Enemalta said that the final report prepared by BWSC and Dresser Rand, the steam turbine manufacturer, was submitted to Enemalta last Friday."After analysis by Enemalta engineers, who deem it to be substantially clear on the root cause of the failure of the steam strainer and of the damage caused to the steam turbine itself, it has been sent for a detailed review by the third party independent consultant DNV KEMA, engaged by Enemalta."

Enemalta said the cause of the steam strainer failure was been clearly identified as being the uncontrolled rotation of the filter element within its housing. This resulted in abrasion and wear on the filter mesh and subsequent structural failure of the strainer. Following this structural failure, parts of the strainer got lodged inside the stop valve, which eventually prevented the valve from closing properly. Furthermore parts of the strainer entered the steam turbine causing impact damage, known in the trade as ‘foreign object damage’.

"The measures taken by BWSC and Dresser Rand have included the replacement of all damaged parts of the steam turbine and combined control and stop valve in order to return it to ‘As New’ condition. Moreover the steam strainer and its housing have been modified to eliminate any possibility of a reoccurrence," Enemalta said.

"It is expected that once the detailed review is completed and the report is judged to be satisfactory, Enemalta will give instructions to BWSC to continue with the test programme and if performance tests, which should take the  days, are successful, the plant should be ready to be taken over before the end of the year. These tests will also be monitored by the independent third party consultant, DVM KEMA, engaged by the Corporation," Enemalta said.