Enemalta swiftly addresses high tension faults

04.08.2020

Enemalta plc operates an extensive distribution system of approx. 5,000 km of cables which distributes electricity to customers from the distribution centres and the 1,600 substations situated throughout the island. During the summer months, it is considered normal for faults to occur as the temperatures increase. However, during the past few days, an abnormality occurred since there were a significant amount of faults in a relatively short period of time, especially in residential areas. These were spread throughout the entire island, with faults also occurring in Gozo.

Five teams led by engineers have worked and are still working 24/7 to address all the faults that occurred as well as those that may yet occur. It is worth noting that about 37% of the outages were related to repair works as opposed to faults, while in 32% of the cases the outages did not exceed 10 minutes. In 80% of cases, the outages lasted less than an hour, while only 3% lasted for more than two hours. In certain circumstances, where it was determined that the power supply could not be restored quickly, generators were installed to reduce the level of inconvenience for customers.

The restoration of supply in such a short time was only possible due to the investment of around EUR 1M per year that Enemalta has been conducting in the automation of its substations during the past years.

Enemalta plc expresses its appreciation to all its personnel for their dedication and commitment to address all the outages encountered in recent days to restore the electricity supply in the shortest possible time. Enemalta plc also expresses its appreciation to the Police Force, Transport Malta and LESA for their cooperation so that its personnel could carry out the necessary works safely.