Enemalta invests €90 million in electricity network reinforcement

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli announced a €90 million investment into electricity distribution reinforcement and the strengthening of transmission from the distribution centers to the substations.

Dalli said work is underway on an action plan to address the ever-growing electricity demand. She called the plan “ambitious”, making reference to two projects in Zurrieq and Bahrija.

“These two projects are part of a of a €2.5 million investment into the strengthening of electricity supply in these localities and the surrounding one,” Dalli said. In 2021, Enemalta installed 50 new substations.

“In some of these localities, new substations will be put into operation, which are automated and through them, we will significantly reduce the frequency of power outages and even the time in case of power outages.”

Dalli said that in order to address low voltage issues, Enemalta installed a considerable amount of LV feeders. These involve an increase in the cables as well as the low voltage lines that carry the power supply from the substation to the homes.

"New and other substations being upgraded are being equipped with the latest technology that can be addressed much faster when a fault develops. Our plan is to have more than 50% of the nationwide substations automated in another six years," Dalli said.

Chairman of Enemalta, Jonathan Scerri said the investment has three objectives; that the electricity distribution system catches up with the rising demand, decrease interruptions and power outage duration.

“The country's growth rate has led to increased electricity demand. It means that when in some places we still have infrastructure that needs to be modernized, there will be a variation in voltage. This is another challenge we are addressing with this plan,” Scerrri said.

Other interventions with this same aim include the change of electricity lines and the installation of line voltage regulators in various localities including Dingli, Imtaħleb and Kalkara.Other capital investments include the extension of the distribution centres in Tarxien, Imrieħel and Marsaskala and a new distribution centre in Naxxar.

“These projects amount to an investment of around €15 million,” stated Ing Scerri.

Minister Dalli added that the country is also working towards having a more stable electricity supply by investing in a second interconnector.

“I thank Enemalta’s employees and technicians, who are working day and night to meet its clients’ demands and ensure that the country has a stable electricity supply. This is a continuous programme of works, including the regular maintenance of our electricity distribution network,” concluded Dalli.