The second gas turbine at Acwa Power Barka's power plant in Oman has been repaired after a series of technical faults hit the project over the past two months, a regulatory filing has revealed.
In a statement to the Muscat Securities Market, Acwa Power Barka said “repair activities on GT-1 have been successfully completed”, with the machine synchronised with the grid and declared available to the off-taker – the buyer of the generated power – on 28 January.
The firm added: “Arranging a new stator, managing its delivery from Europe – especially during Christmas [and] new year period – and completing its installation, testing, and commissioning in such a short span of time is a great accomplishment and [is] unprecedented.”
The update comes just over two months after the firm announced that “an earth fault in [the] electricity generator unit” had affected GT-1. It was at the time the second technical fault in a month that Acwa Power had faced after one of its gas turbines tripped on 29 October, 2018.
The company estimated that its loss of revenue and cost of repairs could be as high as $2.6m (OMR1m), as reported by Construction Week at the time.
The latest repair, Acwa said in the bourse missive, was “only made possible due to the untiring efforts of the team”, which were supported by Italian power engineering company Ansaldo Energia.
“As result [of the repair], the plant is back to its full capacity,” it added. “[Acwa Power Barka] is working very closely with its loss adjustors/insurers on this matter.”
According to Reuters reporting in September 2018, Acwa Power has stalled plans for the launch of its initial public offering. Sources reportedly told the news agency at the time that the plan could be shelved for at least 12 months, citing problems with an Acwa Power project in Turkey as one of the reasons behind the delay.
