Enemalta puts €11m of Gozo grid work out to tender

The larger tender, worth about €7 million, covers trenching works and the laying of new 33kV underground cables linking the 132kV distribution centre with the distribution centres in Xewkija and Qala, as well as a new distribution centre in Kerċem. A second tender, estimated at €4 million, covers the supply and delivery of the 33kV underground electricity cables required for the same project.

Enemalta said the investment would provide additional capacity to meet future demand. The works concern electricity provision in Għajnsielem, Xewkija and the Xewkija-Victoria area.

That is the useful distinction inside the €11 million figure: this is not a finished upgrade but the point where the company goes to market for the civil works and the cable supply. Infrastructure announcements have a way of sounding complete long before anything is dug, laid or energised. Here, what exists so far is the tender process.

Ryan Fava, Enemalta’s executive chairman, said Gozo remains a priority in the company’s investment programme and said the tenders reflect the importance being placed on upgrading the island’s electricity infrastructure as part of a long-term strategy for the Maltese Islands.

The statement, as reported by Times of Malta, does not set out a timetable for when works would begin or when the added capacity would come into service. But it does show where Enemalta is directing money and attention: the less visible backbone of the network, between major distribution points, rather than the sort of smaller-bore fixes that make for easier headlines.