Malta Prime Minister Robert Abela orders rapid upgrade of power grid after heatwave blackouts

Prime Minister Robert Abela instructed Enemalta, Malta’s national electricity provider, to accelerate work on strengthening the island’s power‑distribution network following a series of hours‑long and multi‑day blackouts caused by extreme heat that pushed temperatures above 43 °C and drove electricity demand to record levels. Abela said the recent outages were “inexcusable” and demanded that the infrastructure upgrades begin “as early as this week”.

He noted that €160 million has already been invested in the grid over the past three years and that further spending will be needed to cope with more frequent heatwaves, increased digitalisation, automation and AI loads. The government’s longer‑term plan also includes completing a second interconnector with Sicily by the end of the year and raising the share of renewable generation from 3 % to 17 %.