Last updated at 10pm with latest power outages.
Electricity demand reached a record 604 megawatts in the past few days but a spate of power cuts was not caused by overloading but by faults caused by the heat, Enemalta officials said on Wednesday.
Speaking in reaction to a wave of complaints about long power cuts in various parts of Malta Enemalta CEO Jonathan Cardona said at a press conference that this was the first time that power demand had exceeded 600MW but it was well below generation capacity of 830MW.
The outages, Enemalta officials said, were caused by damage to distribution equipment, notably cables, as a result of the high temperatures.
Some areas suffered multiple faults and repairs had lasted several hours as a result. But in most cases, electricity was restored in an hour or so.
The worst affected were residents of the Mosta-Naxxar area who, in some cases, suffered a 24-hour outage because of damage to a sub-station. Repairs are still underway.
The officials said other severely hit areas by the power cuts were Zurrieq and Zebbug. A transformer also had to be replaced at the latter.
Compensation scheme covers fixed assets
Asked whether Enemalta would be compensating people who suffered long outages, Enemalta chairperson Ryan Fava said that the company has a compensation procedure, however, this is typically applied to fixed assets, meaning consumers will not be compensated for any spoiled food they’ve had to throw away as a result of the outages.
Consumers can apply for compensation online and contact the customer care centre for guidance on how to proceed. Compensation requests are followed by a technical report and a thorough investigation to determine what caused the damage. It also takes into account the depreciation of the appliance.
More personnel for Enemalta call centre
Acknowledging the frustration of consumers who were unable to contact Enemalta during outages, Fava said that personnel at the call centre were set to increase, to better inform customers on what is happening and give them a better indication of when power may be restored. He also urged customers to sign up for Enemalta’s SMS notification service which automatically updates people on the status of a power outage as repairs progress.
Minister promises more investment to strengthen the distribution network
Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said it was regrettable that a number of consumers had spent a long time without electricity. It was because of such instances that Enemalta was undertaking a number of upgrading works to improve the distribution network.
Among ongoing projects, Dalli said, Enemalta was working on new distribution centres in Naxxar, Zurrieq, Mater Dei, St Andrew’s and Siġġiewi.
Works to strengthen underground cables were ongoing in several localities including Naxxar and Mosta.
Over and above the €90 million over six years that the government had promised to invest in the power grid last year, Dalli said another €70 million were being tapped from EU funds, also to strengthen the distribution network.
“All of this will contribute to strengthing our power network so that when issues like this crop up again, going forward we will be better prepared for the circumstances,” she said.
Asked whether the high temperatures forecast in the coming days might see more power outages, Dalli said “hopefully not”, but that this could not be conclusively excluded due to the nature of how faults develop.
Outages continue
The power outages were continuing on Wednesday evening, with readers reporting they had no power in a wide area of St Paul's Bay and Qawra as well as parts of Naxxar, Birkirkara, Zebbuġ, Safi, Qormi, Msida and Marsa. Residents of Naxxar said they feared a third night without electricity.