Malta’s scorching summer took a blackout twist overnight, with Tarxien bearing the brunt of the chaos as multiple localities faced sudden power cuts.

Tarxien was the hardest hit, with households enduring just over three hours without electricity. An Enemalta spokesperson confirmed that “six cable faults impacted multiple substations in localised areas at different times,” prompting engineers to deploy a generator in the locality, which remained in use until power was restored.

Meanwhile, efforts to restore power elsewhere were swift. 64% of affected customers nationwide had their supply back within an hour, said Enemalta. In quieter areas like Paola, Żabbar and Żejtun, energy was restored in under five minutes whilst Birkirkara and Balzan waited about 20 minutes.

At the peak of Tarxien’s outage, the ad-hoc generator was essential. It was in place specifically to ensure residents weren’t left in the dark while repairs unfolded.

The PN was quick to criticise the government. Shadow Energy Minister Ryan Callus warned Malta has been reduced into a “land of generators,” condemning the persistent outages as evidence of a “government in chaos.” 

“We have now spent two years being promised a stable electricity service during the summer months, but it seems this summer will bring more of the same.”