Updated at 4.50pm.

A fault in the Malta-Sicily interconnector was behind a nationwide power cut on Monday that lasted more than three hours, Enemalta said.  

In a statement, Enemalta said initial technical reports indicated that a fault had occurred on the interconnector cable between Malta and Sicily at around 7.30am. 

The provider also warned of further possible outages in the coming days.

"The first indications established damage at sea in the interconnector cable between Malta and Sicily at around 7.30 am, which caused interruptions in the electricity supply across the island," the energy provider said.  

Enemalta said that it had emerged that two of the three conductors and all fibre optic lines were damaged, around 30 kilometres away from Sicily in international waters.

At the time of the incident, the interconnector was at full load due to limitations in the capacity of the generating plants in Delimara.

The power supply started being restored at around 10:04 am with the use of emergency turbines, with priority given to particular "strategic locations".

The damage incurred, the provider said, would require several weeks to be repaired.

"During this period Enemalta will have limited dispatch flexibility which could result in unplanned interruptions to the electricity supply in circumstances that Enemalta will have no control over," the statement reads. 

Electricity supply was back to normal across the entire country by around 1pm. 

Mater Dei hospital and parts of Valletta were the first to have their lights switched back on at around 10.30pm. Subsenquently Enemalta released a number of statements throughout the day, updating the public on which localities had their power restored.   

The company added that technical personnel had done their utmost to restore the power supply in all locations affected.

Minister blames bad weather in Sicily, but Enemalta chief won't confirm cause yet

Energy Minister Joe Mizzi was quoted in the press in the morning saying the fault was likely caused by bad weather in Sicily in recent days. However, when contacted, Enemalta chief executive Jason Vella told Times of Malta he was reluctant to confirm that was the case, saying technicians were still trying to establish what had occurred. 

Mr Mizzi contacted Times of Malta shortly after 11.30am to clarify that while there had been a spell of bad weather in Sicily it was unclear at that time whether there had been damage to the interrconnector facility on land in Sicily or to the sub-aquatic cable linking to Malta.

One theory, he said, was that an anchor had damaged the cable on the seabed, however technical inquiries were still looking into this, he said. 

Asked why it had taken some three hours for power to start being restored, Mr Mizzi said that when the interconnector had gone offline,  this had tripped the local plant. Switching to a completely local supply, while still trying to establish the cause of the original fault was not that straightforward, he said. 

"These are things that happen unfortunately. But our team worked very dilligently, and we should have full power to Malt and Gozo shortly," he said. 

Power went out in towns and villages across Malta and Gozo on Monday morning, with people reporting no electricity in areas stretching from Marsascala to Marsalforn. 

In a brief statement uploaded early on Monday morning, Enemalta confirmed the widespread power outage. The energy provider said its team of engineers were working to establish the cause of the problem and restore power.  

The power cut disrupted homes, businesses and even public infrastructure, with traffic lights out across the country. 

It comes at an especially unfortunate time for the retail sector, which has been banking on Monday being one of the busiest shopping days of the year after flat Black Friday sales. 

A Malta International Airport spokeswoman said that the airport had experienced some minor issues in the initial minutes of the power cut but that supplies to all critical areas were backed up. 

"Operations are running normally," the spokeswoman said. 

Valletta, Sliema shopping goes dark 

Shopping in Valletta came to a standstill again as the loss of power prevented many establishments from operating. Many retail outlets shuttered their entries, while restaurant and fast food workers could be seen sipping coffee on their stoops, waiting for the power to come back on.

“We’re at a standstill,” a small jeweler on South street said.

“We’re a jeweler so we can’t just let people in the shop, how can we see anything it’s not safe”. 

“The Epos isn’t working so we can’t make any sales either.” 

Shops closed their doors in Valletta on Monday on what is meant to be the busiest time for shopping of the year.

 A cosmetic shop on Republic street said that workers has to gently pry open their electric door this morning as there was no other way to operate it. 

Sales staff at the outlet had the dim outlook on the power cut as business usually saw their business packed in the days leading up to Christmas. 

“In the beauty industry the days before Christmas are coveted and appointments are booked long in advance. Employees aren’t even allowed to book leave on these two days, that’s how busy it usually is. All those appointments would have had to be cancelled because none of the equipment for hair, nails or makeup will be able to be used,” one employee said. 

“We’re accepting customers but obviously with no lights or music there is very little atmosphere. We’ll have to see how this situation resolves.”

The same was true in Sliema.  

One shop manager said that thankfully her shop was being powered by the generator from the Plaza Shopping Complex, so the lights could stay on.

However, she said they didn’t have wifi and that meant she couldn’t do card transactions.

Shops in Sliema were plunged into darkness.

She explained that the shop would stay open even if others are closing. She explained that customers had been asking if the shop was closed because of them seeing others closed.

‘Seeing other shops closed will affect our sales,’ she said.

Second outage in as many months

The last nationwide power cut happened less than one month ago, when electricity was cut across Malta and Gozo just as ministers emerged from a turbulent cabinet meeting. 

On that occasion, Enemalta had said that a fault on the Sicily side of the undersea interconnector had caused a voltage dip so severe that every Delimara plant tripped, cutting power to the entire country.  

How has the power cut complicated your day? Get in touch at newsroom@timesofmalta.com