Prime Minister Robert Abela has blamed climate change for nine days of power cuts and said its accelerating impacts mean the country will need to increase investment in electricity distribution.
“The things experts predicted would happen in a number of years, are happening ahead of schedule,” Abela said. “As climate challenges are accelerating, we need to accelerate our work too.”
Speaking on Labour Party-owned radio station ONE, Abela pointed to crises in neighbouring Mediterranean countries, which have also struggled under the pressure of prolonged heatwaves.
Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and France all issued a range of hot weather warnings in the past week as temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius, in some cases hitting record highs.
In some cases, as in Greece or Croatia, the high temperatures caused wildfires. In others, such as in Sicily and Malta, they led to power cuts and water shortages.
The record for peak national demand for electricity was smashed four times in the past eight days. But Enemalta has insisted that it can source enough energy to satisfy demand.
Rather than high demand, authorities in Malta and Sicily have both blamed the high temperatures for damaging underground electricity cables, saying the prolonged heatwave meant there was not enough time for accumulated heat to dissipate.
Speaking on Wednesday, Abela said that the Labour government had inherited an “inferior” distribution system when it assumed power in 2013. He said the immediate priority at the time was to upgrade energy supply, but work to improve cabling had also been undertaken.
Experts assess Malta’s electricity distribution network to be “good”, Abela argued, but say it needs work to ensure it does not come under strain during extreme conditions.
“Cabling joints are the weak point in our distribution system and come under strain when temperatures hit extremes,” he said.
Short-and medium-term investment would focus on adding more substations, distribution centres and new cabling, the prime minister pledged.
The money to improve the national electricity grid is there, he said, with the challenge being one related to “human resources” - in other words, finding the workers to do the necessary work quickly.
Enemalta had last year announced a €90 million, six-year plan to invest in electricity distribution. As a spate of power cuts hit Malta and Gozo this past week, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli pledged to add a further €70 million to that from EU funds.
Abela said the 2022 investment plan had led to Enemalta adding 66 substations and one distribution centre to its grid network in the past 18 months.
He said social partners would be receiving a presentation outlining the situation during a meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, called on Tuesday at the behest of the Malta Chamber.
MCESD members would be given a rundown of “what has been done, what is being done and what we will need to do in the immediate future,” Abela said.
He also emphasised the importance of social partners discussing climate change and its impacts, warning that the country needed to adapt to a changing climate.
“We will have other heatwaves like this one,” he said.