During a press conference hastily called by Enemalta Corporation yesterday evening, it was explained that the damage was not contained to a limited area because, in layman’s terms, the back-up system did not function and this resulted in a loss of energy supply from the Delimara and Marsa power stations.

Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone, chief executive officer Ray Attard and the corporation’s head of electricity Ronnie Vella praised their own employees for the speed with which they restored electricity supply to both Malta and Gozo in a relatively short time.

Mr Vella said that the fault developed near Villa Bettina in Gudja at about 2.50pm, but it was the malfunction in the back-up system that caused both islands to remain without electricity supply for different periods of time.

He added that the supply was back at Tarxien minutes after the fault was located and the system was re-started, with all other areas gradually getting their electricity back within a maximum of four hours.

The last area to have its electricity supply restored was Msierah at about 7pm, Mr Vella said. An internal investigation will be carried out to see what exactly happened, and although foul play is not being excluded, it is probable that the fault was just an accident.

Mr Vella said that the fault was not caused by an overload in the system. At the time, the power supply that was being generated was about 210mw, which is just over 50 per cent of the supply that the power stations produce at their peak.