Enemalta and Danish power station manufacturer BWSC are locked in a dispute over €25 million in fines and penalties in connection with the Delimara power station extension.
While Enemalta is demanding €12 million in compensation for setbacks to the original plans, BWSC has submitted a €13 million invoice for permit and fuel specification-related delays.
Both parties have contested each other’s claims and it is likely that the matter will only be resolved by resorting to the London Court of International Arbitration.
Details of the contested figures emerge from a National Audit Office (NAO) report, tabled in Parliament on Monday, assessing the gravity of technical problems that emerged during the plant’s testing phase.
The NAO concluded that none of the faults could be considered serious enough to threaten the plant’s long-term future, although it found nitrogen oxide emissions levels were overly high and that “the situation does not seem to be improving”.
It noted the Malta Environment and Planning Authority failed to monitor emission levels it had established as part of the power station’s environmental permit.
Local councils in the environs also came in for a scolding: despite their protestations about the Delimara extension running on heavy fuel oil, the NAO found that none of them had bothered to demand that emissions data be made public.
Replying to questions by Times of Malta, a Mepa spokesman said that a specialised committee including local council representatives from Birżebbuġa, Għaxaq, Żejtun and Marsaxlokk regularly met to keep tabs on emissions.
Emissions data could only be made publicly available online once Enemalta had finished updating its software systems, the spokesman said.
The report had been prompted by allegations made by Labour MP Joe Mizzi, now the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
Aside from concerns about the power station being damaged goods, Mr Mizzi had alleged that BWSC personnel had locked the plant’s computer systems and forced Enemalta staff off the site following a testing dispute.
While audit office representatives found that BWSC had indeed shut off computer systems, they noted this was a standard safety precaution.
They found no evidence of Enemalta staff being forced off site, though there was a measure of contempt for the energy corporation’s inability to provide a simple list of all the members of its power station extension project team.
Plagued by controversy before a single brick had even been laid, the Delimara power station extension ran into trouble while being tested by BWSC technicians last year.
Concerns about excessive water leakages and a sodium bicarbonate spillage were coupled with the failure of one of the plant’s steam valves and a broken gear wheel.
Times of Malta had also revealed that some of the plant’s filter bags had burst.
Testing ground to a complete halt on October 16 after a failed strainer damaged one of the plant’s steam turbines.
The turbine was eventually rebuilt and recommissioned, though its failure caused friction between BWSC and Enemalta.
While the Danish firm was eager to resume testing and begin handing the piecemeal transfer of the plant over to the Government, Enemalta officials had insisted on a complete, detailed report into the turbine failure before testing resumed, a demand that the NAO felt was justified.