Major blackout disrupts power supply in Malé and Hulhumalé

A widespread power outage affected Malé and Hulhumalé on Saturday, disrupting electricity services across much of the Greater Malé Region for close to two hours.

The outage affected large parts of Malé and Hulhumalé simultaneously, while Villimalé remained unaffected.

State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) has not yet disclosed the cause of the blackout.

About an hour after the outage began, STELCO started restoring electricity services, with power gradually returning to several areas in Malé and Hulhumalé.

In a statement posted on X, STELCO said the company was investigating the cause of the incident.

“Due to a technical issue, electricity services have been interrupted in Malé and Hulhumalé. Efforts are underway to identify and resolve the problem and restore power as quickly as possible,” the company stated.

Earlier on Saturday, approximately one hour before the outage, STELCO had announced the completion of upgrading works at the 50MW powerhouse in Hulhumalé.

According to the company, the upgrade work was carried out while engines were offline and was completed without interrupting electricity services.

“We extend our sincere gratitude to our dedicated staff and Wärtsilä engineers who worked tirelessly from 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM this morning to complete this task,” STELCO said in the earlier update.

The company also stated that schedules for the remaining phases of the upgrade project would be announced to customers in advance.

While isolated power interruptions occasionally occur in parts of Malé and Hulhumalé, including the Hiyaa housing area, a simultaneous blackout affecting both cities is uncommon.