TMID Editorial: Power cuts

The government and Enemalta haven’t done enough to prevent the country from suffering from power cuts this summer.The country’s electricity distribution system is still not up to scratch as some localities have been experiencing outages.A

By: independent.com.mt

Jul 22 2024
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The government and Enemalta haven’t done enough to prevent the country from suffering from power cuts this summer.

The country’s electricity distribution system is still not up to scratch as some localities have been experiencing outages.

A lot of work was carried out over the past year, but parts of the country still faced blackouts as a result of insufficient infrastructure.

The Prime Minister himself has said that the timeline they had to try and fix the distribution system was not enough to solve all the issues.

Since the power cuts in 2023, works have been carried out, however the National Audit Office issued a report recently which found that shortcomings in planning and investment, 'to varying degrees', contributed to the prolonged power outages experienced in some localities during the summer of 2023.

“With Enemalta (being Malta's electricity Distribution System Operator) citing sustained peak temperatures and an increase in peak demands as the main reasons behind these faults, the NAO mapped out the progression of these two cited factors, as well as other indicators such as actual demands and GDP per capita, to identify related trends across the scoped ten-year period. While meteorological statistics confirm that the situation that manifested itself last summer during a unique protracted period of elevated temperature was the highest within the scoped period, as was indeed the case across various other European countries, this exercise showed that all the analysed factors have been on an upward trajectory throughout the period under review (2014 – 2023),” the NAO said.

“On the other hand, statistics show that capital expenditure invested in the high voltage network during the scoped period experienced a downward trend. This contrasts with the above-mentioned indicators, as well as with the fact that investments in the low-voltage network and the installation of new electricity meters were on the increase,” it said.

Yes, the heatwave last summer was one that couldn’t be predicted, but the heat the country is facing now is not as high as it was, yet the network is still failing some areas.

Global warming and climate change aren’t concepts so new that years ago one couldn’t plan for such eventual situations.

The Times of Malta also reported recently that Enemalta spent less money on upgrading its distribution grid last year than it had a decade earlier, despite its infrastructure having to cater for a much larger population.

The cuts are a disrupting issue. The Gozo Business Chamber said it is significantly concerned about the current situation and that in Gozo various localities have been hit by power cuts, and in some cases the interruption of the water supply, several times this week. Apart from the significant impact this is having on our communities, especially the more vulnerable, such a situation erodes business and investment confidence at such a crucial juncture of the busy tourism season. In some cases this situation has lasted for 16 hours, the chamber said in a statement.

The MHRA has also highlighted its concern, saying that this past week has seen Balluta Bay turn green and power outages affecting multiple localities, directly impacting both our tourism sector and local residents.

Abela has said that the remaining work on the distribution network will continue until completed, which one hopes will solve the problems. But here one must point out that such works were already too late in 2023.