Interconnector failure on Sicily side reported to have caused electricity outage in Malta

Nov 2020Published 17 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantElectricalProvisional

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From the recordRoot cause Failed part

Where: Malta grid linked to European grid through Sicily
What: Electricity outage caused by interconnector failure
Cause: Failure on the Sicily side of the interconnector

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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Enemalta

What happened

Enemalta reported that an electricity outage in Malta was caused by a failure of the interconnector on the Sicily side. The Malta grid is linked to the European grid through Sicily. The extent of the outage, its duration, the number of customers affected and the technical nature of the failure were not reported in the material available. This entry is based on a headline and feed summary only and may be updated as fuller reporting appears.

Contributing factors

A failure on the Sicily side of the interconnector, as reported by Enemalta. No further detail on the fault has been reported.

Lessons learned

Cross border interconnectors create dependency on assets outside local control, so fault response plans should cover faults on the far side.
Island grids that rely on a single external link need contingency generation for interconnector loss.

Not yet known

Extent of the outage
Duration of the outage
Number of customers affected
Technical nature of the failure

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

maltatoday.com.mt

Published 2026-09-17. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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Chart to reuse with this story: Grid infrastructure incidents in Malta, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

The record behind this entry

The record behind EIR-0940 holds the site, the operator, the root cause and what failed as fields you can filter, count and export, with its 2 sources and their verification status. The cause is not hidden: the contributing factors above give it as the sources report it. The record adds it as a field. Companies are named in the roles the sources give them. Being named is not a finding of fault.

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Operator: •••••••••
Failed part: •••••••
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Grid infrastructure incidents in Malta: 9 entries, with a free alert for the next one.

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