[WATCH] Power restored everywhere • Pictures of damage caused by fire released

Aftermath of fire at Marsa distribution centre • Video by Enemalta

The damage caused by the fire at the Marsa distribution centre (All photos by Enemalta)

At long last, residents and businesses in Luqa, Marsa, Zebbug and Qormi breathed a sigh of relief when electricity was finally restored shortly after 3pm. The localities spent almost 20 hours without electricity while Enemalta workers were in their last efforts to restore power after Tuesday night's nationwide blackout.

The four towns are directly distributed power from the distribution centre where an explosion occurred on Tuesday evening at around 7:50pm. Enemalta CEO Fredrick Azzopardi confirmed that the explosion was caused by damage to the cables linking up to the distribution centre and not by a power surge. He said that Enemalta had around 60 MW  in reserve to satisfy clients’ demands.

The explosion damaged the tarmac and underground cables outside the distribution centre. The power plants at Marsa and Delimara automatically switched off as a precautionary ‘safety trip’ and the nationwide blackout ensued.

No one was injured in the explosion. Police, Civil Protection Department and Enemalta Fire Section personnel, along with other Enemalta workers extinguished the flames and contained the risk of further damages to the equipment at this installation. The process lasted around 3 hours.

Once the flames had been extinguished, workers managed to temporarily restore power to various localities. However, a fault soon ensued and the blackout continued through the early hours of the morning. Supply was restored to almost all localities by 1:30am early on Wednesday morning.

Azzopardi stressed that communication with “strategic” areas, such as the Malta International Airport (MIA) and Mater Dei Hospital was maintained throughout the blackout, with both being prioritised when distribution was again possible. MIA, however, suffered problems with its generators which, in turn, resulted in a number of flights being delayed or diverted.

Police investigations and Enemalta inquiries have been launched into the explosion at the Marsa distribution centre that occurred on Tuesday evening.

As yet, Enemalta are unable to provide a financial estimate of the damages but Azzopardi said that the explosion didn’t cause any major “structural damage”. He hopes that the results of the investigations will help Enemalta identify any measures that may need to be implemented to avoid similar incidents in the future.

The company said that in the future, it will improve distribution with four new centres in Xewkija, Manoel Island, Marsa, and St Andrew's over a five-year plan partly financed by Shanghai Power Electric.

Yesterday, workers restored power to various localities but a fault soon ensued, and the blackout continued through the early hours of the morning.

Police investigations and Enemalta inquiries have been launched into the explosion at the Marsa distribution centre that occurred on Tuesday evening.

The Enemalta inquiries must identify the cause of the explosion at the distribution centre and the supply disruption, assess the damages caused and identify any measures that may need to be implemented to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Supply was restored to almost all localities by 1:30am early on Wednesday morning.

The initial outage was caused on Tuesday evening at 7:50pm by a fault at one of the generating units at the Delimara Power Station and an explosion in part of an electricity distribution centre at the Marsa Industrial Estate.

No one was injured in the explosion. Police, Civil Protection Department and Enemalta Fire Section personnel, along with other Enemalta workers extinguished the flames and contained the risk of further damages to the equipment at this installation.

For further assistance, customers are encouraged to contact the Enemalta Customer Care team on 8007 2224 or [email protected]. Further details about Enemalta are available on www.enemalta.com.mt.