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Bassil Says Fatmagul Sultan Vessel to Assume Production within a Week

Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil revealed on Friday that production units on Fatmagul Sultan power vessel will resume work within a week.

“The matter has been resolved,” Bassil said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper.

The newspaper reported that the period is to import the adequate fuel for the production units after the Turkish Karadeniz power company, which leased the power vessel, said that the fuel it had received to operate the ship “was not convenient.”

The company said in a statement in April that "the results of tests conducted by international laboratories revealed that the fuel we have been receiving was not convenient."

The statement detailed that before the malfunction occurred, the vessel had completed the operational examination phase under the supervision of a group of international independent experts and had started generating 188 megawatts of power, "even before the date mentioned in the contract had started."

In April, President Michel Suleiman tasked the Central Inspection Authority to investigate the causes of the malfunctions of the “Fatmagul Sultan” power-generating vessel.

He tasked the authority to uncover the circumstances that led to the malfunctions and determine the sides responsible for it.

Nine out of 11 generators on the Fatmagul Sultan barge have stopped functioning, media reports said, pointing out that the power-generating vessel is only producing 15 percent of its capacity, which is 27 megawatts.

Lebanon inked in July 2012 a $360 million three-year contract with the Turkish firm to lease electricity-generating vessels.

The two barges could generate 270 megawatts of electricity.

The second vessel is expected to arrive in June.

The power vessels should help make up for the power shortage that will be caused by the rehabilitation of the Zouk and Jiyeh power plants.

Lebanon is in need of 2,500 megawatts of electricity while the current production is only 1,500 MW.


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