Updated 12.35pm with PN reaction

Enemalta has swapped out its CEO Jonathan Cardona, just two months after Energy Minister Miriam Dalli denied reports that he was getting sacked.

Cardona will be pursuing a “new career opportunity” following a two-week handover period, the company said in a statement

The announcement means Cardona, who previously led the government agency overseeing the cash-for-passports scheme, Kommunita Malta, spent just two years as Enemalta’s executive boss.

Rather than replace Cardona with a new CEO, Enemalta has instead opted to empower its chairperson Ryan Fava with executive powers.

Ryan Fava will now lead the company as its executive chairperson. Photo: Enemalta

Fava, who has chaired Enemalta since 2022, will now lead its management as executive chairperson.

He thanked Cardona for his work over the previous two years.

“Enemalta has a bright future,” Fava said. “We have important projects ahead of us, such as the development of renewable offshore energy, more investment in land-based renewable energy, the creation of large-capacity energy storage systems and new interconnectors, as well as the electrification of vehicles and ports.”

Fava is an engineer who studied at the University of Malta and London’s Brunel University.

He will be the third person to lead Enemalta in an executive capacity since a periodic series of nationwide seasonal power cuts.

Engineer Jason Vella, who led Enemalta as CEO from 2018, was moved out of the position just weeks after he publicly apologised for widespread power cuts in the summer of 2021. Vella had acknowledged that problems were due to an inadequate infrastructural network .

He was replaced by Cardona, who also oversaw a troubled period for Enemalta that culminated with lengthy power cuts last July.

Cardona and Dalli insisted the cuts were caused by a prolonged heatwave overheating underground cables, not overloading. Weeks later, the prime minister announced that the government would be doubling its budget to upgrade Enemalta’s infrastructural network.

Dalli had at the time shot down rumours that Cardona was being removed from his post.

“Jonathan Cardona is still reporting for work at Enemalta every day and he has not been removed as CEO of Enemalta,” Dalli told reporters in late August. “He is part of the focus we have right now to strengthen investment in energy in our country, particularly in the distribution system,” she said.

PN: Dalli was either lying or lost control

The Nationalist Party reacted to the news of Cardona being replaced by saying it was clear the government had no coherent plan for Enemalta.

Miriam Dalli had either been lying when she denied reports of Cardona exiting the company, or else she had no control over what happened at Enemalta, said PN Energy spokesperson Mark Anthony Sammut.

“This news also confirms that Robert Abela acknowledges that people had to assume responsibility for the power cuts suffered in the summer, that were caused by incompetence and a lack of planning,” Sammut added, noting how he had initially blamed climate change and a heatwave for the outages.