Enemalta’s six-month project to ‘transform Malta's power grid’ with 70km of new cables now in motion

A six-month project on Malta’s roads, will see the development of new cable connections between different nodes of the national grid, Enemalta said on Thursday.

The additional 70 kilometres of medium voltage cables added through this investment is almost four times the length of new medium voltage cables added by Enemalta in the last two years.

“Over the past months, Enemalta continued to dispatch its resources towards its six-year plan to strengthen its generation and distribution infrastructure. In parallel, we joined forces with Infrastructure Malta and Transport Malta to lay over 70km of 11 kilovolt underground cables over the next six months,” Enemalta’s Executive Chairman Ryan Fava said.

In a joint press briefing, Enemalta, in collaboration with Infrastructure Malta and Transport Malta, outlined their ongoing and upcoming initiatives to bolster the country's electricity distribution system.

Over the past months, it was explained, Enemalta continued working to strengthen the electricity distribution system at different levels.

In collaboration with Infrastructure Malta and Transport Malta, the Company is accelerating this work, prioritising the areas hardest hit by the impacts of July’s heatwaves.

In July Malta and Gozo experienced 10 days of sporadic power cuts in the middle of an unprecedented heatwave.

Thousands of people were left fuming as Enemalta dealt with 87 faults on high-voltage cables throughout the 10-day heatwave in the second half of July. 

Between 2022 and 2023, Enemalta commissioned 80 new substations and completed 66 substation upgrades. 

Enemalta explained how it is gearing up for major projects in the coming years, including a new 132-kilovolt link between the Maghtab Interconnector Terminal and the Mosta Distribution Centre. 

“This connection will strengthen ties between the Malta-Italy Interconnector and the local electricity distribution network.”

Two new distribution centres in Naxxar and Siġġiewi

Fava also announced plans for two new distribution centres in Naxxar and Siġġiewi, alongside upgrades to existing centres in Msida and St Andrew's (Pembroke). 

Naxxar, Żurrieq, parts of Mosta and Birkirkara, back in July, had faced more hardship because of the length of time it took to restore energy.

Enemalta scrambled several teams to fix the faults but multiple failures on the same localised network sometimes prevented the company from being able to provide an alternative supply of electricity to hit areas.

Fast forward to December, and the development of the Naxxar Distribution Centre is in motion, with a call for tenders published this week.

Enemalta will soon issue tenders for an additional 60 megawatts of temporary standby generation capacity, bolstering reserves for emergencies.

Infrastructure Malta CEO Ivan Falzon highlighted the importance of collaboration in achieving shared objectives.

Transport Malta CEO Jeanette Axisa assured the public of their commitment to maintaining a strong presence in communities. 

Additionally, she highlighted strategic diversions in public transport routes to align with specific location requirements while meeting broader community needs.

For further information, the public is encouraged to follow Enemalta, Infrastructure Malta, and Transport Malta on social media or visit their respective websites: enemalta.com.mt, infrastructuremalta.com, and transport.gov.mt