Enemalta’s outage map collapses as power crisis deepens

Enemalta’s live online map, intended to inform the public where electricity outages are occurring, appeared to buckle under the scale of Malta’s latest power crisis, failing to reflect widespread blackouts reported across the country.

As hundreds of residents turned to the utility’s website to check whether faults in their areas had been registered, The Shift found that numerous localities suffering prolonged electricity cuts were simply missing from the official map.

Among the areas where residents reported hours-long outages that were not reflected on the live system were Xemxija, Żabbar, Birkirkara, Attard, Marsaskala, St Paul’s Bay and several other towns. On Wednesday, Valletta also experienced extensive electricity failures affecting homes, businesses and government offices, yet the official map continued to provide what appeared to be only a partial picture of the national situation.

The apparent failure of Enemalta’s reporting system comes as the country grapples with one of its worst electricity crises since the nationwide blackouts of 2023, also under the remit of Energy Minister Miriam Dalli.

The discrepancies prompted criticism from the Opposition’s energy spokesperson, Mark Anthony Sammut, who questioned whether the public was being given an accurate picture of the extent of the disruption.

In a social media post, Sammut noted that Enemalta’s map was at one stage showing only Valletta without electricity despite receiving reports from residents in Sliema, St Julian’s, Cottonera and other localities who had also been left without power for several hours.

“The least people expect is transparency about where there is no electricity service, not attempts to hide the problem,” Sammut said.

He added that a similar situation had occurred during the nationwide power crisis three years ago, arguing that “not only were the problems never solved, but they are still trying to hide them.”

Enemalta has so far not explained why its live outage map failed to reflect reports from numerous affected localities.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli has so far stopped short of accepting political responsibility for the widespread failures, instead announcing a taxpayer-funded compensation scheme for households and businesses left without electricity for more than six hours.

The latest blackouts come only days after Prime Minister Robert Abela reaffirmed his government’s intention to continue increasing Malta’s population through migration, saying the country needed to attract around 14,000 additional residents every year to sustain economic growth.

Official figures show Malta’s resident population has increased by around 60,000 over the past five years, placing additional pressure on infrastructure, including the electricity distribution network. While Enemalta has blamed the current crisis on record demand during an exceptional heatwave, the widespread failures have reignited questions over whether investment in the national grid has kept pace with the government’s rapid demographic and economic expansion.