Enemalta is working on the final stages of an €80 million three-year investment to upgrade and expand major nodes of the national electricity network to improve the quality of service.
In 2014, it launched a long-term project to consolidate the national electricity grid and increase the network’s flexibility to provide a quicker response to supply interruption emergencies including accidental damage, technical faults and other difficulties, Enemalta said in a statement this morning.
This investment enabled the company to minimise the risk and duration of disruptions.
The investment included six new distribution centres to the existing 20. It also included over 100 kilometres of new high voltage underground network connections interlinking different network nodes, while developing over 80 new 11 kV substations and upgrading another 100 existing installations.
The high voltage network is being reinforced through six new 33 kV and 132 kV distribution centres and the expansion of two existing ones. Each new distribution centre represents an average investment of over €5 million.The project is being funded through the company’s own resources.
Each new distribution centre represents an average investment of over €5 million
The new distribution centre at St Andrew’s was commissioned early this year, while that at Manoel Island was connected to the grid in June. Both are easing the load and dependency on the existing centres providing increased capacity and greater flexibility.
In Gozo, the new Xewkija distribution centre was connected to the grid earlier this year. It is the second distribution centre on the island, ending its reliance on the existing Qala distribution centre.
The new transformers and switchgear installed as part of the upgrade of the Mellieħa and Sta Venera distribution centres are also in operation. At these installations, Enemalta replaced old equipment dating back to the 1970s.
New transformers and switchgear were installed and the centres' control and protection technologies were upgraded.
Final testing of the first phase of the Marsa north distribution centre is also underway. The switchgear panels installed at this centre will be replacing older distribution equipment located at the Marsa power station site, which is currently being dismantled.
The final phase of this distribution centre, including the extension of the country’s 132 kV network through a new underground cable tunnel from the Marsa power station site to Qormi is also in progress. Once this phase is commissioned, the Marsa north distribution centre will become one of the principal nodes of the national electricity grid.
Another two new distribution centres the company is developing at Mrieħel and Ricasoli are scheduled to be commissioned next year.
As part of this project Enemalta has also added 216 new high voltage cable connections to the national grid, laying over 100 kilometres of underground cables. They are providing new alternative electricity distribution links between different regions and localities, which the company can use to reduce the duration of interruptions caused by faults or other network emergencies.
During the same period 80 new 11 kV substations were developed in several localities. In over another 100 substations Enemalta carried out major upgrade works to replace outdated equipment with new transformers and switchgear.