Electricity in Valletta restored after more than 30 hours in 'complex' operation

Updated 5.12pm

Electricity in Valletta was finally restored after more than 30 hours in a “delicate” and “complex” operation as Enemalta’s engineers remain on site to address localised powercuts in other areas.

In a statement issued just before 4pm on Thursday, Enemalta said the “delicate operation” of repairing underground cable faults in the capital had “just been finalised”.

“Repair work on the two underground cables supplying parts of Valletta proved to be particularly complex due to previous infrastructure, but these have now been resolved,” Enemalta said.

A separate technical team was also deployed to Valletta on Thursday morning to isolate and replace a temporary generator after it developed technical issues.

The blackouts in Valletta had temporarily halted the Yorgen Fenech trial on Wednesday, with the first unexpected power cut at 10.30am, and on Thursday MUZA art museum was forced to remain closed all day.

At least one supermarket was shuttered during the outage as businesses ground to a halt unable to serve customers. At one record store, clients resorted to looking through items on sale using the light of their phone torches while other shops had to turn customers away.

Enemalta Executive Chairperson Inġ. Ryan Fava said the unprecedented temperatures had driven electricity consumption to “never-before experienced levels”, placing extraordinary pressure on parts of the national distribution network.

“Enemalta had anticipated an increase in demand, and this was one of the reasons behind Enemalta’s ongoing nationwide network reinforcement programme,” Fava said.

This year’s demand by far surpassed any previous records, reaching a peak of 741MW in recent days.

"The parts of the distribution network where reinforcement works have already been completed have performed well throughout this period of exceptional demand. The vast majority of the faults we have experienced have occurred on sections of the network where these works have not yet been carried out," he said.

Fava pointed out Enemalta had embarked on a national infrastructure programme “on an unprecedented scale”, admitting it “inevitably takes time to implement”.

“What was unprecedented was the speed and scale at which demand increased during several consecutive days of extreme heat.”

He added that the company is “acutely aware” of the strain being placed on families and businesses affected by interruptions.

“Our teams remain deployed around the clock to restore supply as quickly and safely as possible,” Fava said.

Power cuts were reported on Thursday in several localities including in parts of Birkirkara, Senglea, Qrendi and Hamrun.

The substation at The Village/Mensija caught fire on Monday night. File photo: Jonathan Borg

The Village substation

Workers have cleared the equipment from the substation at The Village, St Julian’s which was damaged by fire earlier this week. Generators were deployed to maintain electricity supply and will remain in place until a “continuous power supply is assured”.

Technical experts are assessing the damage and, once the necessary safety clearances are obtained, new equipment will be installed with the aim of bringing the substation back into operation in the coming days, Enemalta said.

This will be followed by testing and commissioning works before the substation is safely reconnected to the national grid.

Fava said the company was working to complete the repairs as quickly as possible.

“We appreciate that the temporary generators might cause an inconvenience to residents, but they are there to provide electricity while we are working to return the substation to normal operation as quickly and safely as possible,” he added.

The company also said it has increased the number of staff assigned to the 24/7 Helpline 153 as it reminded customers they can also contact it through its dedicated WhatsApp channel.

Enemalta pointed out power interruptions and related issues should only be reported through its official reporting channels.

“Reporting on any other portals does not notify Enemalta,” the company said.

Long-term infrastructure resilience needed

The Chamber of Engineers has called for long-term infrastructure resilience amid ongoing power cuts across Malta.

In a statement on Thursday, the chamber warned extreme heat events and sustained population growth reinforce the need for “continuous, forward-looking infrastructure planning”.

“Regardless of the specific causes, the events highlight the importance of designing and maintaining electricity infrastructure that remains resilient under increasingly demanding operating conditions,” the Chamber said.

“As Malta continues to develop, infrastructure planning must remain dynamic, with investment and renewal forming part of a continuous asset management strategy.”

Engineers said tools such as computer simulations, digital modelling and regular infrastructure monitoring can help identify weaknesses, predict where problems are likely to occur and plan upgrades before failures happen.

They said these approaches enable authorities to make better-informed decisions and target investment where it is needed most, while ensuring infrastructure is prepared for future demand.

They also suggested an “evidence-based technical review” should be held to “identify lessons learned” from the recent outages.