Updated 2.12pm - Added Enemalta statement

Much of Malta was left without electricity this morning following a power cut that struck shortly before 10am. 

People in Attard, Birkirkara, Ħamrun, Ħal Far, Iklin, Gozo, Marsa, Marsascala, Mġarr, Mosta, Naxxar, Rabat, San Ġwann, Santa Venera, Sliema, St Paul's Bay, Ta' Xbiex, Xgħajra, Żebbuġ, Żejtun and Żurrieq all reported having no power. 

In a Facebook post, Enemalta said it had restored power to all affected areas "within 50 minutes" of the problem surfacing. 

Tripped interconnector transformers

Enemalta said capacity was lost after interconnector transformers were tripped "due to a technical difficulty" during scheduled maintenance of the company's terminal station in Ragusa, Sicily.

This led to a sudden reduction in capacity to the national grid, with automatic shedding procedures kicking in and leaving many localities without power. 

"Within a few minutes, Enemalta dispatched additional capacity from its emergency plants at Delimara, from the gas-powered engines of the Delimara 3 plant (Delimara 3 Power Generation Ltd) and from the Delimara 4 CCGT plant (Electrogas Malta Ltd), which is currently undergoing operational testing ahead of final commissioning," the company said in a statement. 

Further inquiries into the cause of the incident were underway, it added. 

The power cut momentarily threw a spanner in the works of a press conference featuring EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc.

Mrs Bulc, who was due to present 2016 road safety statistics to the press at 10am, was unable to begin her presentation due to the sudden loss of electricity.

"There are emergency lights in the lobby but not in the conference room," a Times of Malta correspondent at the event said. "Everyone including the commissioner is just sort of hovering."