The LNG tanker required to feed the new gas-fired power station in Delimara will not be available before October, the Times of Malta is informed.
This would be the third delay for the new facility that was originally meant to come on stream in March 2015.
In its latest annual report, Bumi Armada, a Malaysian company responsible for supplying Malta’s power project with a permanent LNG tanker to act as a floating storage unit (FSU), declared that it would only be possible to supply the ship in the fourth quarter of 2016.
In his message, chairman Turku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tunku Muhriz said that “the conversion of the LNG carrier into the FSU Armada LNG Mediterranea is progressing well and we expect the unit to be installed in Malta in the fourth quarter of 2016”.
A few weeks ago, this newspaper reported that the conversion on the LNG tanker being carried out at a Singapore shipyard was delayed following the discovery of large amounts of asbestos on the old vessel.
Both Electrogas, the private consortium building the new power plant, and the government have remained tight-lipped on the latest developments.
Asked to give a specific date on when the LNG tanker is expected to enter the port of Marsaxlokk and be installed in place, the Office of the Prime Minister, Electrogas and Bumi Armada failed to give a specific time frame.
Contacted in Malaysia, a spokesman for Bumi Armada refused to give an update of the state of play on the conversion job and only said all questions should be referred to Electrogas.
On the other hand, a spokesman for Electrogas would not confirm whether the June deadline would be missed and reiterated the government’s positionthat the project should be on stream some time in the summer.
Originally, the government had pledged that the new power station would be on stream by March 2015. This had been one of Labour’s main electoral promises prior to the 2013 election. After months of insistence that the project had been moving according to plans, then energy minster Konrad Mizzi had announced the plant would start generating energy by not later than June 2016.
In a statement in Parliament in December 2014, Dr Mizzi said he was ready to accept the political flak for missing the original target and pledged everything would be in place by June 2016.
It now appears this target will be missed too.
Dr Mizzi, who since his last declaration has lost his energy portfolio because of allegations linked to the Panama Papers, recently said the power station would be functioning during the summer.