Businesses across Malta were impacted by yesterday’s power outage that extended from 19:50 hrs in the evening until late the next morning for some regions of Malta. The original cause of the outage was a fire in an underground power cable, and a subsequent explosion at the Marsa distribution centre close by, which led to the automatic shutdown of the Delimara power station for safety reasons. While the original fire and explosion may have caused a power outage across areas including Valletta and Birzebbugia, it is understood that it was the shutdown of the Delimara power station that actually plunged the nation into darkness.
The importance of back-up power systems became immediately apparent to businesses. Phone networks and Internet connections had patchy availability, with mobile networks seemingly able to provide better connectivity.
The Corinthia Hotel, Attard, was one business able to provide power to guests and so was able to continue operations with limited interruption. Indeed the availability of power at the larger hotels may have attracted custom, or at least delayed the departure of other guests, and so have been good for business.
While Malta International Airport should have had back-up electricity generation available to cover the power outage the airport itself was forced to shut down due to “technical difficulties with its generators”. In a public statement MIA explained that “yesterday's nationwide blackout coincided with technical problems in our system and MIA suspended apron and runway operations for not more than 25 minutes between 21:30 and 21:55.”
They added that “Malta Air Traffic Services opted to divert incoming flights to Catania and Palermo for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes between 22:45 and 01:30 as a precautionary measure to ensure safety within the aerodrome.” However they noted that “The terminal remained operational at all times with acceptable limitations” adding that “The matter was resolved last night and all activities at the airport are fully operational.”
While the current power-cut was exceptional in nature, the periodic half-day and day-long power-cuts that are a characteristic of business in Malta over summer impose their own burden on local firms. The cost of unanticipated power-cuts in terms of wasted labour days is significant and one local firm has implemented contingency planning in order to ensure staff remain usefully occupied while power is down.
Overall the unreliability of the local power network points to the importance of major investment in Malta’s energy infrastructure over the next few years, to ensure the reliable energy supply required by modern businesses.