Fuvahmulah City braces for rolling blackouts after genset malfunction; duration still unclear

A problem with a genset has forced the city of Fuvahmulah to impose power cuts across various areas at different times on Tuesday.

Fenaka Corporation’s Fuvahmulah branch announced that scheduled outages will continue until the genset issue is resolved. The company also warned that additional unscheduled outages may occur during off‑load hours.

According to Fenaka, power cuts are expected every hour from 18:00 to 00:00, with the affected areas listed in a table shared by the branch. The utility advised residents to keep electronic devices switched off during outages as a safety precaution. For further information, the public may contact 3035644.

Fuvahmulah Mayor Ismail Rafeeq told Sun that the city experienced outages two days ago due to heavy load. On Tuesday, he was informed that a genset malfunction would cause further power cuts at varying times. He added that the duration of the disruption remains unknown.

Meanwhile, parts of Maafannu in Male' City also experienced a power outage on Tuesday, though the issue was later resolved.

Fuvahmulah, home to more than 13,000 people, has faced intermittent outages in recent days due to the generator problem. Both Fuvahmulah and Malé receive electricity from Fenaka Corporation, a company frequently scrutinised over corruption allegations and concerns about operational resilience amid political influence.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has also heightened worries about rising global oil prices and the potential impact on electricity costs. With Maldives spending a significant share of its import bill on fuel, some have suggested scheduled power cuts as a way to reduce government expenditure.