NAO says underfunded energy network played part in 2023 summer blackouts; Enemalta in denial

Enemalta’s failure to invest in its high voltage network over a 10-year span despite growing demand was one reason for the electricity outages during the July 2023 heatwave.

This is the conclusion reached by a high-level review carried out by the National Audit Office that was presented to the Speaker on Monday afternoon.

The review was carried out following a request the NAO received last year from ADPD to probe the power outages that caused widespread inconvenience during a heatwave.

The NAO acknowledges that Malta experienced an extraordinary eight-day heatwave in July 2023 that precipitated a series of events that caused 83 joints on Enemalta’s high voltage network to fail in rapid succession.

However, the NAO also found that over a 10-year period, Enemalta’s investment in its high voltage network dwindled despite an increase in demand and the installation of more electricity meters. Statistics presented in the report show that actual capital expenditure on the high voltage network dropped from almost €15 million in 2014 to less than €6 million in 2023.

“Enemalta’s historic investments in the HV network were, as attested by the prolonged outages experienced in 2023, not sufficient to mitigate the prevailing socio-economic and climatic circumstances,” the NAO noted.

It added that the significant capital investment in the electricity distribution network undertaken by Enemalta after the summer 2023 disruptions “attests that government acknowledges the strategic importance of addressing the risks of prolonged outages in its infrastructure.”

“While meteorological statistics confirm that the situation which manifested itself last summer during a protracted period of elevated temperature was the highest within the scoped period (2014 to 2023), NAO concludes that shortcomings in the planning and investment noted in this report, to varying degrees, contributed to the prolonged power outages experienced in some localities,” the report concludes.

Enemalta unfazed: ‘It was the abnormally hot weather’

But in its reaction to the NAO findings, which was reproduced verbatim in the report, Enemalta refuted the conclusion that shortcomings in planning and investment contributed to the prolonged power outages. The majority-owned State company called the NAO’s conclusion “an opinion emanating from a high-level analysis”.

Similarly, Enemalta rebuffed the conclusion that the summer 2023 occurrences signal that expenditure over the 10-year period was not well targeted and not enough to make up for increased demand. The company said these conclusions “should be considered to be opinions emanating from a high-level analysis”.

Enemalta insisted on blaming the July 2023 power outages exclusively on the abnormal heatwave, adding that only 83 out of approximately 14,000 joints had failed.

“Enemalta affirms that the abrupt and abnormally high increase in temperature, starting from 17 July 2023, resulted in a substantial number of network failures, mainly joints, as indicated, that normally would occur over a period of time that would allow remedial action with minimal disturbance to consumers. However, in this instance, the period of time was unusually short,” the company said.

Nonetheless, Enemalta said that after this heatwave it embarked on a six-month high voltage network reinforcement programme, which saw the company lay and connect more than 80km of cable.