Enemalta Corporation plans to invest in a remote monitoring system that would allow for the immediate detection of a problem in a substation or distribution centre so that it could be fixed without having to wait for a power cut, chairman Alexander Tranter said yesterday.

The system, which would cost several millions, would be installed over the next two years.

Instead of having to physically switch on and off and direct electricity from one place to the other, it could be done remotely. This would not only prevent problems but also reduce the time the consumer spent without electricity.

The fact that it was still a manual operation meant it could take time to get the electricity going again, said the chairman. The idea was to introduce more technology to reduce as much as possible the inconvenience suffered by consumers.

Mr Tranter was yesterday speaking at a press conference called to explain the coincidental series of unconnected generation and distribution faults that hit Malta over the last four days, causing power outages all over.

He stressed that the power outages had nothing to do with Mater Dei Hospital, which was currently using 2MVA, projected to rise to 19 when fully fledged. The provision of electricity to the hospital had not increased over the past few days, and was not expected to do so dramatically when it opened.

The tripping of Boiler 8 at the Marsa power station three times in three days for different reasons was one of the causes of the power outages, but it was now up and running, said Mr Tranter, "touching wood".

Enemalta did not take risks and operate defective machinery, he insisted. "It seems that everything is working as it should... It was an exceptional case that the incidents occurred around the same period."

But another cause was the damaging of a cable close to the natural reserve in Ghadira by a contractor - not once, but twice, on Monday and yesterday.

The chairman said the police had been informed and a report filed, adding that, coming from the private sector, he expected compensation for damages as a rule. However, exactly how and why the incident occurred had still to be established.

The fact that it was the same contractor hitting the same cable raised doubts as to whether something was wrong, Mr Tranter said.

He had no comments, however, regarding the possibility of the Paceville business community instituting proceedings against Enemalta due to losses incurred as a result of the power cuts. It was a democratic country, he said, and everyone would take their respective positions.

The GRTU has requested an urgent meeting with the Malta Resources Authority to discuss the current spate of electricity cuts, saying they were causing damage to many of its members.

Meanwhile Enemalta last night confirmed that there were more random power cuts in Sliema, Gzira, San Gwann, St Julian's, Marsa, Hamrun and Pietà.

As regards the increase of power consumption in summer, Ing. Tranter said Malta was currently hitting a peak of 360 megawatts - an increase of just under 30 over the last two weeks - but less than the same time last year, 370 megawatts.

As to whether the corporation could cope with the increase, Mr Tranter said it had enough capacity to handle the growths in demand projected for 2007, 2008 and 2009. He pointed out that the increase in power demand, projected for 2007, had not materialised, probably as a result of more awareness of the cost of electricity and a more cautious use of energy, which was previously taken for granted.

Nevertheless, Enemalta's strategic plans were based on an increase in demand.

He said the contract to increase Delimara power station's capacity to 120 megawatts should be awarded by the end of the year and the expansion completed within 24 months.

The financing of this new generation capacity and the cable interconnection between Malta and Sicily, which should be carried out over three to five years, would cost the country Lm50 million each.

He said the corporation was working to obtain funds from the EU and trying to find innovative financing options, with the involvement of the private sector and the possibility of leasing, rather than buying, for example.

Whether diesel engines or combined-cycle plants were to be used was being left open - as long as the equipment was environment-friendly, Mr Tranter said.