Electricity supply was restored to all localities by 1.45am yesterday after an electrical breakdown caused a power black-out on Tuesday evening, Enemalta Corporation said yesterday.

A corporation statement said that the breakdown occurred in the 33kV switchboard at the Freeport distribution centre, which is supplied directly from the Delimara power station. This centre supplies electricity to Birzebbuga and Marsaxlokk besides the Freeport.

This caused the Delimara power station generators’ protection system to trip the machines and as a result the power supply was disrupted in many localities in Malta and Gozo at around 7.15pm.

Action was taken to restart the Delimara power station and to man the critical distribution centres. At around 8pm various localities in the South of Malta were re-supplied. As more power became available from Delimara, all other areas except Birzebbuga, which is supplied from the Freeport distribution centre were re-supplied gradually by 10pm.

Action was also taken to isolate the faulty switchboard and the supply was restored to all the remaining localities by 1.45am. Temporary repairs were completed during the night and other work was underway to repair the switchboard.