Enemalta’s €80 million network project in final stages

Enemalta’s three-year network reinforcement project draws to an end as the €80 million investment comes into its final stages of upgrading and expanding major nodes of the national electricity network. 

Enemalta launched the long-term project in 2014 to consolidate the national electricity grid and increase the network’s flexibility to provide a quicker response to supply interruption emergencies. This, the company said, included accidental damage, technical faults and other difficulties. “Whilst electricity supply disruptions can never be eliminated, this major investment in the national grid enables Enemalta to minimise the risk and duration of these difficulties,” it said in a media statement.

The project included adding six new distribution centres to the existing 20 centres across Malta and Gozo, as well as laying over 100 kilometres of new high voltage underground network. It is also reportedly developing over 80 new 11 kV substations and upgrading another 100 existing installations.

Two new distribution centres at Mriehel and Ricasoli are scheduled to be commissioned next year, Enemalta added.

A final testing of the first phase of the Marsa North Distribution Centre is also underway, according to the company, and includes the extension of the country’s 132 kV network through a new underground cable tunnel from the Marsa Power Station site to Qormi.

The new distribution centre at St Andrew’s was commissioned early this year, whilst the new centre at Manoel Island was connected to the grid in June. According to Enemalta, the new distribution centres at St Andrew’s and Manoel Island are easing the load and dependency on the existing distribution centres by providing increased capacity and greater flexibility when responding to network emergencies.

In Gozo, the new Xewkija Distribution Centre was also connected to the grid earlier this year, ending its reliance on the existing Qala Distribution Centre.    

Enemalta additionally confirmed that the new transformers and switchgear installed as part of the upgrade of the Mellieha and Santa Venera distribution centres are now in operation. New transformers and switchgear were installed and the centres’ control and protection technologies were upgraded for additional capacity and redundancy, it said.