Power cuts hit several areas; Enemalta says outages 'unrelated'

Updated 4.07pm

Several localities across Malta were hit by power cuts on Thursday night and Friday morning, but Enemalta insisted the outages are not related to insufficient supply, as temperatures are forecast to hit 40°C.

Residents in Mellieħa, Manikata, Mġarr, Qawra, Rabat, St Julian’s, Sliema, Swieqi, Qormi, were among those who reported outages of varying lengths.

One Qawra resident said she had no power five times this week and had been forced to throw away food twice. 

“Fifth time this week. Second time I’m throwing my food away,” the resident wrote, adding that an elderly neighbour was also feeling unwell.

She also said that she had to buy a new fridge after a power surge during one of the outages damaged her appliances.

The resident said she had been without electricity since Thursday morning and, as a result, had not managed to "sleep a wink".

Enemalta: We have enough power

In a statement on Friday afternoon, Enemalta said the power cuts were "unrelated to one another" and were not caused by a shortage of electricity generation.

"Enemalta has sufficient electricity generation available to meet the current demand," a spokesperson for Enemalta said.

Power was restored within "minutes", depending on the work involved. He pointed out that in the Sliema and St Julian’s areas, supply was restored in under five minutes, while in Rabat, affected customers had their power restored in under 90 minutes.

The interruption affecting the Mellieħa and Mġarr areas was caused by a fault on an overhead medium-voltage line.  

"Although locating and repairing faults on rural overhead lines can take longer at night because of access, visibility and safety considerations, power was restored within a couple of hours," Enemalta said.

While apologising for the "inconvenience caused", Enemalta thanked its employees and crews "who respond immediately to restore supply as quickly and safely as possible."

The spokesperson pointed out that the "continued investment in the distribution network" is creating additional links between distribution centres, substations and customers, which provide more options to reroute supply when faults occur.

He added there was "no scope" to use the temporary generation plant in this case. 

This facility was commissioned to provide additional backup and ensure the network can continue operating reliably even if one of the major sources becomes unavailable.

It was used during Storm Harry in January when the floating LNG storage unit was moved to its storm mooring for safety reasons, and the gas supply to the Delimara power station was temporarily interrupted.

Momentum general secretary Mark Camilleri Gambin said the outages showed how quickly basic services could affect residents’ quality of life.

“With all our ‘luxury’, ‘First World problems’ suddenly refers to some very basic needs... so much for wellbeing, mental health,” he wrote.

He was sarcastically referring to Robert Abela’s interview with Times of Malta, in which the prime minister said more people were buying cars and boats and travelling abroad because a Labour government had made such luxuries accessible to many.

Other Qawra residents also reported disruptions, with one social media user saying the electricity supply was disrupted for about three hours.

Others reported similar experiences, although some also raised concerns about low water pressure in the area.

In St Julian’s and Sliema, electricity was cut for several minutes at about 11pm. Power cuts were again reported in both localities on Friday morning. 

Enemalta’s website attributed the disruption in the area to a “high-tension outage”.

Screenshot of Enemalta's outage map on Thursday night Photo: Enemalta

The power cuts came after the Meteorological Office issued a red heat warning for the coming days. 

Temperatures are forecast to reach 41°C over the weekend, making it the hottest weekend of the year so far.

Meteorologists are forecasting highs of 41°C from Saturday to Tuesday, while nighttime temperatures are expected to remain between 28°C and 29°C over the same period.

Prolonged electricity cuts during periods of extreme heat can pose particular difficulties for elderly residents, people with medical conditions and households relying on fans or air conditioners.

Malta's increased reliance on air conditioning, growing population and rising temperatures have led to consecutive years of record electricity demand on the national grid. 

'Electricity has become a luxury' - PN

The Nationalist Party said the government "has completely failed" to plan the electricity system properly, noting that having electricity in summer "has become a luxury".

"Many people are being forced to cover the cost of damage to household appliances due to voltage problems, and throw away food that has spoiled because of the power cuts," the shadow minister for energy Mark Anthony Sammut said.

He reiterated the Opposition's call for "greater seriousness and competence" in the provision of a "basic service" such as electricity.