EDL says Fatmagûl fuel “matches specifications”

Karadeniz stopped production due to 'bad fuel'

Electricité du Liban (EDL) confirmed that fuel oil delivered to the leased Turkish power-ship, Fatmagûl Sultan, matches the technical specifications agreed on in the contract.

The power-ship stopped energy production last week only a few weeks after launching operations. Karadeniz Powership, the company that owns the ship, said production was halted because of the low quality of fuel supplied by the government.

A statement by the EDL denied this: “The Turkish firm sent samples of the fuel oil intended to the power barge to VISWA international laboratories, and the results (delivered on March 6) showed that the fuel oil matched the standards stipulated in the bilateral contract.”

The three-year contract had stated that Karadeniz would rent out two power ships to the Government, with a total capacity of 270 MW for a total of $392 million. As stipulated in the contract, fuel oil required for the generation process shall be provided by the Government through the EDL.