New gas power plant to miss another deadline as LNG tanker conversion is delayed

The new LNG power plant in Delimara being built by Electrogas has hit another snag and will not  be up and running by June as originally announced by the government. Sources close to the project confirmed the main reason for missing the second deadline is a delay in the conversion of the LNG tanker that will be used as a permanent floating storage unit for the project. “The tanker, which is currently undergoing a major conversion job in a Singapore shipyard, needs further time as it was found to have a substantial amount of asbestos,” one source said. “Thus, the conversion job will be taking longer than originally projected as all the asbestos has to be removed before the ship can leave the shipyard facility and sail to Malta,” It is not yet clear how far the delay will put back the project although Electrogas is hoping that it will only be a matter of a few months. In December 2014, when conceding that the new power plant would not be completed, as promised, by March 2015, then Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi had promised Parliament that it would be up and running by June 2016 at the latest. However, this deadline is set to be missed once again. “I am ready to take the political...