Work to convert the BWSC plant in Delimara to gas will start next January and be completed by October, according to an energy portal.

The website, Penn Energy, reported yesterday that China’s Shanghai Electric Power had signed a deal with Finnish engineering company Wärtsilä for the conversion of the 140MW power station.

This is the first time that a clear deadline has been given for the start and completion of the gas conversion. The government had been criticised last December after the deal signed with Shanghai Electric made no reference to a deadline.

The BWSC plant’s eight diesel engines, commissioned in 2012, run on heavy fuel oil. The engines were built by Wärtsilä.

Tan Qing, project manager for SEP Malta, told Penn Energy: “The project in Malta is Shanghai Electric Power’s first step in Europe.”

Last year, Shanghai Electric reached a multimillion euro deal with the government for a 33 per cent shareholding in Enemalta and majority ownership of the BWSC plant.

Electrogas, a private consortium with Maltese and foreign ownership, is building the liquefied natural gas infrastructure at Delimara and a 250 MW gas power station.

The LNG terminal will also be supplying gas to the BWSC plant. The government had said it expected the first electricity produced from gas to be available in June 2016.