Updated - Statements by Enemalta, GO
Electricity supply disruptions over the weekend and yesterday continued this evening.
Enemalta said today the outages were caused by a number of cable faults.
Power cuts were reported in Iklin, Balzan, parts of Birkirkara, Gzira, Msida, Sliema and San Gwann.
In a statement, Enemalta said it is committed to continuing its investment in the electricity distribution network, to increase its flexibility and reduce the risk of supply disruptions.
"The company’s technicians and engineers are working to restore network redundancy, following a number of faults in the distribution system in the Msida, Sliema and San Ġwann areas on Monday.
"The electricity supply disruptions yesterday and this morning were caused by a number of cable faults which affected the network flexibility to provide the required services in these areas. While the necessary interventions were immediately carried out to restore electricity supply to all customers affected, some works are still ongoing," Enemalta said.
It said it is implementing a long-term distribution network reinforcement plan, including the development of four new distribution centres as well as an increase in the number of connection configurations between different nodes of the electricity grid.
Two of the distribution centres, which are already at an advanced stage, will be located at St Andrew’s and Manoel Island, to consolidate services in some of the areas affected by yesterday’s disruptions, including Sliema, Ta’ Xbiex and Msida.
A number of new high tension underground cables are also being laid in the same areas, to facilitate the provision of supply through alternative channels in the eventuality of a breakdown in other parts of the distribution system.
Another two distribution centres are being developed at Xewkija, Gozo and in Marsa, whilst other similar projects are being planned in other parts of the country. These developments are expected to start being commissioned by next year.
The number of technical teams is also being raised, in order to ensure a quicker response to emergencies.
Enemalta regretted the inconvenience which the outages caused.
POWER CUTS AFFECT INTERNET, TV SERVICES
The power cuts also affected internet services, ATMs and traffic lights.
In a statement this morning, communications company GO said that disruptions in the national power supply yesterday evening have impacted a number of its services, including mobile voice and SMS, internet and Interactive TV.
"GO’s technical teams immediately restored services by activating our standby systems. Furthermore they have worked through the night to stabilise the situation and verify that services have been restored," it said.
It apologised for any inconvenience caused and said it was doing all it could to ensure continuity of service.
Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said yesterday that Enemalta was now in a position to allocate more resources to beefing up the distribution system. Progress had been made in Mellieha and areas in the North, but it could not guarantee that there would not be power failures in areas such as Sliema, where were severely overloaded.