Eight engines at the BWSC Delimara plant have clocked up almost two months of inactivity this year because of faults, Times of Malta has learnt.
In 10 months a number of generating units had to be shut down for a total of at least 1,419 hours, equivalent to nearly 60 days.
The plant, commissioned in 2012, has been dogged by a series of problems, which the Energy Ministry has blamed on the complexity of the engines and the abatement system that cleans exhaust before it is released into the air.
The filtering system is necessary since the diesel engines are run on heavy fuel oil that produces a lot of pollutants when burnt.
But despite a reduction in faults, the ministry acknowledged Enemalta was still grappling with operational problems.
We are still facing unacceptable levels of faults which are causing disruption to the plant
“We are still facing unacceptable levels of faults which are causing disruption to the plant,” a ministry spokeswoman said, adding that 29 faults developed in the three months leading to September.
She noted that at any one time at least two of the eight engines were consistently out of service because of a fault, planned maintenance or other operational reasons.
“Unfortunately, the design and nature of the plant is such that it requires very labour-intensive processes and significant maintenance interventions,” the spokeswoman said. This reduced the ability of Enemalta to maximise the use of these machines,” she added.
Converting the BWSC machines to work on the cleaner natural gas will do away with the abatement processes, improve operations and reduce faults, according to the spokeswoman.
Liquefied natural gas will only be available in 2015 when the private operator tasked to build the necessary gas handling infrastructure, as well as a new power plant run on gas, is committed to finish the project.
Questions sent to BWSC, the Danish engineering firm that built the Delimara plant, about the problems flagged by the ministry went unanswered. Instead, a spokeswoman for the company referred this newspaper to Enemalta.
BWSC won the contract in 2009, sparking political controversy amid allegations of wrongdoing by the then Nationalist government.
The choice at the time to continue using heavy fuel oil, which marked a reversal of government policy to shift to gas, and the lowering of emission levels were crucial elements that eventually worked in favour of the BWSC offer.
An extensive investigation by the Auditor General which concluded in 2010 found no evidence of corruption or trading in influence at any stage of the public procurement process.
But the Auditor General said the investigation “found smoke but not the fire”, listing a series of coincidences throughout the tendering process which favoured BWSC.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com