The successive power cuts that affected several localities on Monday and Tuesday were “coincidental”, according to an Enemalta spokesman.
He explained that the power outage on Monday was caused by a fault to an 11kV cable at Msida, which tripped a transformer supplying several nearby areas.
This affected the whole of Sliema, Ibraġ, Manoel Island, Gżira, Msida and Ta’ Xbiex.
Within two hours, the transformer was tested and re-energised and supply to most areas was restored.
The few remaining areas, including parts of Ta’ Xbiex and Msida, could not be immediately reconnected to the grid because they were supplied by the feeder that caused the fault, he said.
The fault was located later in the afternoon and the substations supplying these areas were all re-energised through another feeder cable by 8pm.
Improvements to the electricity grid are an ongoing process
The following day, the feeder developed a separate fault, resulting in another power cut in Ta’ Xbiex, Guardamangia and Marsa.
Residents and businesses in Ta’ Xbiex were the worst affected, having suffered power outages on both days.
This irritated many business owners who complained that the blackouts were costing them a lot of money, with workers sitting idle.
The outages also affected restaurants and embassies in the locality.
The spokesman said the power outages were “coincidental” and that there was no spike in power
Last week, a fault at Marsa power station caused a power cut in St Julian’s, Sliema, Santa Venera, Birkirkara and Lija.
While regretting the inconvenience caused, the spokes-man said Enemalta was working on a number of projects to improve reliability of supply in the Sliema and Ta’ Xbiex areas.
“Enemalta reiterates its commitment to continue working to consolidate the distribution system in this area, to increase its flexibility and minimise the risk of similar disruptions,’ he said.
“Several projects are underway in this regard.
“Improvements to the electricity grid are an ongoing process as part of Enemalta’s efforts to meet changing demands in different parts of the Maltese islands.”