Government 'failed to act' on Enemalta warning

Rather than investing in Enemalta to prevent a power cut like the one that immobilised the island last week, the Prime Minister had chosen to shock the nation by raising electricity tariffs, the Labour Party said.

In a prompt reaction, the government said it was constantly investing in Enemalta and accused Labour of trying to win public sympathy by ignoring the millions of euros being injected into a more efficient system.

The PL noted that in 2006 Enemalta's generation plan report had identified the lack of spare generating capacity as a weak spot that might have serious consequences as from this summer. "Action has to be taken to reduce the peak demand or to acquire additional generating capacity before this date," Enemalta had said in 2006.

Despite this warning, the government failed to take the necessary action to stop the power cut that froze the country for several hours and cost an estimated €8 to €10 million, Labour charged. The government countered that the 2006 report was the same document Enemalta was implementing now to improve the electricity system. This plan, which catered for the generation and distribution of electricity, factored in a higher demand. It also looked into efficient equipment and the reduction of the environmental impact.

The government had already invested €165 million in the new Delimara power plant, installed smart meters throughout the island and implemented the new billing and customer relationship management system, it said. Last Tuesday, two lengthy power cuts hit both islands. The first occurred at 10.30 a.m. and the second at 4 p.m. Enemalta engineers later established the location of the fault to be one of the turbines at Marsa.

An investigation carried out by Enemalta is expected to be concluded on Friday.