Power cuts in the north due to "insulation breakdown"

A serious fault in one of the main electricity cables linking Mosta and Mellieha has left thousands of people suffering the unbearable heat of August as power cuts swept different localities on two consecutive nights.

People who called The Times complained they were not adequately informed that they would have no power in the evening. "We were preparing dinner and had to throw everything away. We were left with no choice but to go out for dinner," a woman complained.

On Tuesday night, power cuts were reported in parts of Mellieha, Ghadira, Gozo, Selmun, Mizieb, Ghajn Tuffieha and Manikata.

On Wednesday night and yesterday morning, power cuts were reported in parts of St Paul's Bay, Selmun, Xemxija, Mistra, Rabat, Naxxar, Attard, Lija, Mosta, Gharghur and Birguma.

The Water Services Corporation said the water supply in Mellieha and Xemxija was interrupted due to power cuts in the reverse osmosis plant at Cirkewwa.

It said that power cuts had also affected various water distribution pumps and that the water supply was affected in Naxxar, Gharghur, Madliena, Ibrag and parts of Mosta.

The power cuts had nothing to do with the warnings Enemalta issued recently that it may temporarily suspend the electricity supply to some areas in the north if the demand exceeded the limits of the distribution system.

Efforts to eliminate the latter type of power cuts are being made through a Lm10 million investment in the Mosta distribution centre, which has been three years in coming and which, once commissioned in November, will significantly enhance the reliability of supply to the North and Gozo.

A spokesman for Enemalta Corporation said the fault causing this week's cuts was due to insulation breakdown at one point in the 12km primary cable linking Mosta to Mellieha.

He said the main difficulty was to locate the fault due to the length of the cable and the intermittent nature of the fault. The fault was, however, located and repaired yesterday afternoon.

He said that rather than leaving just one area for a long time without supply while repairs were in progress, switching operations were organised to reduce the length of the interruptions but this meant that more areas were affected.

Asked whether this solution was acceptable, the spokesman said: "It is not a question of whether it is acceptable or not but whether it is possible or not to provide supply in such circumstances.

"Power cuts will continue to happen as long as faults occur in the distribution system and in the power station equipment. This matter is not unique to Malta."

Which cannot be any consolation to an Attard woman who said she was not aware that Enemalta was about to cut off power. "I only realised as I was showering," she said.

A Lija resident said it was not acceptable for Enemalta to suspend electricity, bearing in mind the hot temperatures.

The cuts also affected business: A number of restaurants, including some in Gozo, had to close because they did not have electricity.

Asked whether it was acceptable to leave households without electricity in the heat, the Enemalta spokesman said that one had to add that the escalation in demand was also due to the fact that energy was not being used efficiently.

"This could be also due to the fact that the price of electricity in Malta is subsidised and is one of the cheapest in Europe. In other European countries, and even in America, severe power outages were reported when the increase in demand in these countries was far lower, for example, than the 12 per cent increase in peak demand experienced this year in the north of Malta and Gozo."

Enemalta said it would be suspending electricity tomorrow until 3 p.m. in Zebbug. The area affected will be the part from Mdina Road up to Sapphire Hall and the New Street in Mdina Road.

Enemalta also said that electricity will be suspended in Valletta on Sunday up to 2 p.m. in parts of Merchants Street, North Street, Republic Street, St Joseph Street, Fountain Street, Spur, it-Turgien, l-Isptar, St Dominic and St Nicholas streets.

The corporation said the power cuts were necessary for maintenance work on the power distribution system. It said it was limiting the suspension of electricity to cause the least level of inconvenience to the public.