Two power cuts in one day

Parts of Malta and Gozo were hit by two power cuts yesterday when faults developed at the Delimara power station and an electricity cable that fed a number of sub-stations.

The faults follow closely on Monday's malfunction at Delimara that left hundreds of households without any electricity for under an hour.

The first power cut yesterday occurred at 9.15 a.m., after the cooling water pump of the combined turbine at Delimara tripped, an Enemalta spokesman said. The power cut lasted five minutes at Marsascala and the Freeport and 15 to 20 minutes in other parts of the country including Naxxar, Attard, Buġibba, Mosta and parts of Gozo. Then, at about 4.41 p.m. parts of Birkirkara, Lija, Attard, Mrieħel and Balzan were again without electricity after a fault developed in a cable.

An Enemalta spokesman said that by 5 p.m. engineers were slowly restoring power after the source of the fault was located.

Monday's power failure happened at 5.38 p.m. when one of the turbines at Delimara malfunctioned in circumstances similar to the nationwide power cut on Good Friday when power was lost during switching operations at the power stations.

Readers posting comments on timesofmalta.com reported that on Monday the lights went out in Sliema, Attard, Mosta, St Paul's Bay, Mtarfa, Mellieħa, Sta Venera, Attard, Rabat and Gozo, among other localities.