Enemalta tackling cable faults in Valletta as power demand reaches new record

Updated 2pm

Enemalta said on Wednesday that it was tackling cable faults in Valletta as demand for electricity reached a record 741MW.

"The intense heatwave enveloping Malta pushed demand to a record 741MW on Tuesday, placing sustained stress on the distribution network as engineers worked tirelessly to restore power to affected areas," the state energy company said.

It explained that crews were working to restore supply in several affected areas and remained fully deployed wherever faults were reported.

"By this morning, Enemalta’s teams had restored power in all areas impacted. However during the morning two cable faults developed in Valletta, and engineers are carrying out the necessary repairs to restore power as quickly as possible."

Enemalta Executive Chairperson Ryan Fava said that every available resource was being mobilised to restore supply as quickly and safely as possible.

“Enemalta recognises the serious disruption residents and businesses are experiencing and offers its sincere apologies for all those left without electricity during this intense heat. Technical teams are working throughout the day and night to repair faults, restore supply and provide alternative connections wherever possible,” he said in the Enemalta statement.

“The exceptionally high temperatures are placing sustained stress on the network and within a few hours of reaching a record demand of 713MW on Monday, it had reached 741MWby Tuesday, a substantial increase of 11 per cent over the previous record of 663MW in 2023.”

Fava explained that in areas where network reinforcement works had been completed, the additional connections created through those upgrades enabled technical teams to reroute supply and restore electricity more quickly, despite the record demand.

However, the faults experienced over recent days also demonstrated the need to continue strengthening vulnerable sections of the network, as Enemalta’s multimillion investment programme in Malta’s power supply continued.

“We are listening, and reacting as fast as we can. And, we want to reassure all those affected that our teams will continue working without pause to restore supply and stabilise the situation,” Fava said.

On Tuesday, Enemalta confirmed that it had repaired faults on cables supplying Birkirkara, Balzan, Lija, Iklin, Xemxija, Mellieħa, the Cottonera area and  Żabbar,

Also on Tuesday, Momentum party leader Arnold Cassola uploaded a photo showing Pembroke houses in the dark with the Mercury Tower brilliantly lit up behidn them. His caption was:  "We are in the dark...but Robert's friends' lights on full blast."

PN repeats call for compensation 

The Nationalist Party on Wednesday repeated its call for compensation to businesses and other customers for the power cuts.

"The electricity crisis has become so severe that we have even seen businesses forced to close, in addition to those that have lost hours of work and suffered damage to their equipment

Enemalta's live outages map shows most of Valletta hit by power cuts. Photo: Enemalta

"Repeated and prolonged power cuts across several localities are having serious consequences for families and businesses, particularly the self-employed and small and medium-sized enterprises," the party observed. 

It insisted that the government should introduce an automatic compensation scheme for all families and businesses that have suffered losses as a result of prolonged or repeated power cuts.

This compensation should be based on clear and transparent criteria, including the duration of the power cut, damage to equipment, loss of products and stock, loss of sales, and the forced closure of businesses.  

The statement was signed by Michael Piccinino, Shadow Minister for the Self-Employed and Darren Carabott, Shadow Minister for the Economy, Technology and Strategic Projects. 

'Humiliated on the world stage'

The PN in a separate statement also referred to the interruption on Tuesday of a Conference League match at Ta' Qali because of a power cut.

"The government’s lack of vision and serious planning for Malta’s infrastructure yesterday humiliated the country on the international stage, even during a European sporting competition," shadow minister for sport Graham Bencini said.

"This is not the Malta that the Maltese and Gozitan people aspire to. A modern country cannot continue relying on generators to keep basic services running."