STELCO Says Excavation Damage Led To Hulhumalé Phase II Blackout, Electricity Restored Now

A major power outage affecting several residential towers in Hulhumalé Phase II yesterday was caused by damage to one of the main electricity supply cables, with power restored after nearly eight hours, according to STELCO.

Residents began reporting outages across multiple towers last afternoon. At 15:21, STELCO announced that a technical issue had disrupted electricity supply to parts of Phase II and that teams were working to identify and resolve the problem. The affected buildings included several towers in the Vinares and Hiyaa housing complexes.

By 20:00, electricity had been restored to most towers, with Hiyaa 2 and Hiyaa 6 initially remaining without power. However, residents later reported that additional towers experienced further outages before full restoration was completed.

According to STELCO, the disruption occurred after one of the four main cables supplying electricity to Phase II was damaged, with the damage believed to have taken place during excavation work. The company indicated that meeting electricity demand using the remaining three cables had been challenging due to the high load in the area.

Technical teams worked to redistribute the electrical load across the remaining cables in order to restore supply to all affected buildings. Hulhumalé Phase II, a densely populated area with thousands of families continuing to move in, has seen repeated concerns from residents regarding delays and gaps in essential services.