Power Outages Explained | by spunt.mt

Jul 23 2023

Malta and the rest of Europe are grappling with electricity shortages. When temperatures climb, city residents tend to seek refuge in air-conditioned, indoor spaces. That puts a major strain on electricity grids.

The electric grid is made up of the generation side and the distribution side.

The generation side is composed of local generation at the Delimara power station (537MW), the interconnector with Sicily (200MW), and local renewable energy generation (224MW at peak hours). The total electricity generated is larger than the demand for it, for the time being.

This generated electricity is distributed to the consumers via a network of underground cables and substations.

When a cable is in use, heat is generated and dissipated to the surroundings (road, air). The majority of high and medium voltage cables are buried under ground.

Due to the increase in electricity demand in summer, coupled with high ambient temperatures, the rate of heat dissipation of cables is severely impacted. This leads to failure in electrical cable insulation, especially in the weakest distribution points, which are the cable joints.

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How can this be avoided in the future?

Modernizing the grid is a hard task as most cables are underground, accessible only to Enemalta once roads are revamped, giving employees access to the cables. Only in those situations can the cables can be upgraded to meet today’s and future needs. This lack of access to the cables is what has caused an aging infrastructure.

To soften the situation, preventive maintenance should take place in off peak seasons to avoid increasing electricity outages in summer when the consumer needs electricity the most.

Meanwhile, whilst electricity supply for now is sufficient for the total demand, we should be proactive, as we can already estimate that the future consumption will be decisively higher.

One of the largest concerns will be caused by the electrification of motor vehicles, which will further add to the stress on infrastructure.

The government is already planning another interconnector to cope with this increased demand and the higher volatility in electricity consumption throughout the day. Technically, this interconnector would not have solved this week’s problems, but it will contribute to increased supply diversification and grid resilience, as we would be better tied to the European smart grid.

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Local Marine Biologist Explains ‘Sea Slaters’

Jul 23 2023

Local marine biologist Alan Deidun shared a video to social media to continue his ongoing educational campaign when it comes to marine flora and fauna.

This time, he shared a video of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them sea slaters, known in Maltese as ‘Dudu tas-Sajd’ (scientific name: Ligia italica).

The isopods ‘have disappeared from numerous coastlines in recent years, presumably due to pollution and urbanisation/development issues’, Deidun explained.

‘These critters are a favourite with anglers, who pluck them off the rock as bait on their hooks’, continued the marine biologist.

The sea slaters typically live in tidal zone cliffs and rocky beaches, but are there are many terrestrial species which occur in high-humidity environments.

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AI Creator Reimagines Malta As A Fiery Inferno

Jul 23 2023

Unless you’re being forced to live without any air conditioning due to the ongoing power cuts, this is what most of Malta feels like when one emerges out of a cool room for literally 5 minutes.

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Malta.ai, the online creator using artificial intelligence, has reimagined Malta as the absolute inferno it currently feels like – by (digitally) setting most buildings on fire and letting magma flow thorough the island’s streets.

Of course, such images are awesome to behold, but the actual heat being experienced is being labelled by many experts as further evidence of ongoing climate change.

Malta is not the only country experiencing such extreme temperatures, with forest fires ripping through Europe and other intense weather patterns ravaging other areas in the world.

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If anything, this post is yet another opportunity to remind everyone to stay safe from the heat – stay hydrated, avoid the sun’s peak hours and try and cool off in any way you can!

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Two New Surveys Indicate Drop In Support For Labour

Jul 23 2023

Two new surveys were released by Times of Malta and MaltaToday, investigating the popularity of the two major parties in Malta: Labour Party and the Nationalist Party.

According to the Times of Malta survey, PL would still win an election were it to take place tomorrow, but with a new margin of just under 18,000 votes.

The current governing party also lost more voters as it registered a decrease of 1.3% over the past four months and 5% since last year’s general election.

According to the ToM survey, the PN did not manage to garner any significant support – registering a 2% boost since the last election.

Support for Prime Minister Robert Abela also dropped but is markedly higher than Opposition Leader Bernard Grech’s. According to ToM, Abela’s trust rating now ranks at 4.3, down from March’s 5 rating.

This is still higher than Grech’s 3.7 trust rating. According to the ToM survey, only 8% of youths under the age of 24 approve of the government’s performance. This is in contrast to 38% of people over 65.

Meanwhile, according to MaltaToday, the PN overtook the PL for the first time since 2008, with support standing at 30.2%.

This is an increase of 1.5 points, with the Labour Party scoring 29.6%. Despite the minuscule advantage, the PN had never taken the PL in any survey by MT since the 2008 general election.

Abela’s advantage in the MT survey is one of 12 points, with a trust rating of 39.2% (an increase over May), against Grech’s 26.8% (a tiny boost of 1.3 points). 33.3% of those surveyed trust no one.

What do you make of all of this? Read the full surveys here: Times of Malta and MaltaToday.

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