LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta registered on Monday a new record of electricity demand on the same day which also set a new temperature record for July. Enemalta, the State energy provider said that the peak energy load reached 649MW surpassing the 600MW mark for the first time last week.
The Meteorological Office has confirmed that the temperature on Monday afternoon peaked at 42.7°C, equaling the highest temperature ever recorded in July in Malta since records started to be kept. The record temperature ever recorded in Malta to date is 43.8°C, recorded during a heatwave in August 1999.
The heatwave has caused an energy crisis that has frustrated and outraged the public and embarrassed the Maltese government. The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association stated that the numerous power cuts that have plagued Malta in the past week have not only caused hotels and restaurants financial losses but have also led them to suffer reputational damage.
“Many tourists who found themselves in hotels without electricity have turned to social media complaining that their vacation was ruined with some also giving low scoring reviews to hotels on booking platforms. The same applies to restaurants affected by power cuts whose patrons were disappointed. These restaurants lost precious peak season opportunities as they were not able to function without electric energy,” it said.
In view that such phonomena caused by climate change is here to stay, the association called on the Maltese government “to take urgent action and address various difficulties which currently are impacting the tourism industry, risking to seriously damage the identity and reputation of Malta being a truly beautiful and authentic Mediterranean destination.”
Meanwhile, power outages persisted on Tuesday for the tenth consecutive day, despite Enemalta assuring the public on Sunday that electricity had been restored to those affected by cable outages. Enemalta said that it has so far repaired 45 out of 64 high voltage cable faults and workers were dispatched to address another five faults that developed over Sunday night, in order to restore electricity supply to the affected areas.
– photo di xf3/Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
