Explosion of BWSC power station exposes faults in Delimara contract
Auditor General’s misgivings on maintenance agreement reinforced by Mauritius power station explosion
James Debono
The crucial role of BWSC in identifying the cause of an explosion at a Mauritius power station in 2008, ten years after the plant was constructed by the same company, is raising fresh doubts on the adequacy of the five-year maintenance agreement the Danish firm has on its technology for the Delimara power station extension.
Auditor General Anthony C. Mifsud has already expressed concern on the maintenance agreement between Enemalta and Burmeister & Wain (BWSC), which uses a prototype technology never tested elsewhere.
An inquiry by the authorities of the small African island on the explosion, which left four employees and a fire-fighter seriously injured in September 2008, has established that the incident was caused by a crack in the engine component.
BWSC, which was responsible for the installation and commissioning of the diesel fired power station in 1997, was asked by the Mauritian authorities to conduct the investigations into the causes of the explosion.
The BSWC expert attributed the explosion to a crack in the engine component, which allowed the entry of combustion gases that led to an explosion. The consultant recommended the reconfiguration of the engine protection systems so that the engine will trip in case of oil mist detection.
The incident, which occurred 10 years after the power station was built, highlights the importance of a long-standing maintenance agreement.
Even the Auditor General’s report raises a number of questions on the adequacy of the yet to be signed five-year maintenance agreement, especially in view of the fact that the technology is a prototype.
“The five-year maintenance agreement begs the question: can five years be considered long-term for a plant that has an expected life of at least 20-25 years?” a technical officer quoted by the Auditor is reported as saying in his report.
The report notes that when Enemalta issued the original invitation to tender, had laid down requirements for tried/tested combinations, the corporation had no inkling that bidders would be proposing untested technology, but it had already specified it would want a five-year maintenance agreement.
Confronted with this issue, Enemalta replied that a five-year contract was deemed sufficiently ‘long-term’ and that the corporation’s philosophy was that of being “self-sufficient”.
Enemalta’s chief technical officer Peter Grima was quoted saying that Enemalta’s policy was use the manufacturers’ technical personnel for the first few years after installation, and then call on their services only for purposes of supervision and advice.
But the Auditor was not entirely convinced by this argument, when he concluded that Enemalta was “not attaching too much importance to the fact that the plant being installed is the first one of its type” – and that even its consultants Lahmeyer International had advised the Corporation to take the necessary precautions.
During the course of the NAO investigation, it also transpired Enemalta had not yet signed a spare parts and technical support agreement (SPTSA) and that the two parties had only agreed on an interim document.
Enemalta contends it would make more sense to sign such a contract after the basic engineering of the plant is concluded, as this would give Enemalta a clearer idea on which spare parts should be included in this agreement.
But although the SPTSA has not yet been finalised, this agreement is already capped at €18 million over five years. The Auditor has questioned the impression that all spare parts will be covered by that amount. “This should be avoided since this does not properly reflect costs likely to be incurred in this regard.”
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