This underground power plant has been described as one of the most interesting industrial archaeological sites of Malta. The plant's diesel engines are unique, as there are only 12 of this kind left in the world and six of them are in here. The facility was built by British forces in the 1930s before World war II and remained in use until they left the island in 1979. It was built underground to protect it from being bombed, so it could continue to provide power in the event of a war. In 1979 it was handed over to Enemalta (the leading energy services provider in the Malta) who kept it operational until 1992. It has been abandoned ever since, although it was used for storing 1,200 cubic metres of asbestos in the meantime. The asbestos was removed in a massive clear up operation in 2012.
I don't watch much exploring on YouTube but when I saw Exploring the Unbeaten Path's video from here in May last year it really stood out as something a bit special. A huge underground military power station with rare diesel engines, parsons turbines, abandoned and decaying for over 30 years. What's not to like? Hats off to those guys for the find as not many people seem to know of its existence, and there is hardly any information available online. It's also tucked away underneath a live dock yard so really not somewhere you want to get caught.
I soon hatched a plan with @Sids for a trip to Malta. We didn't have much information to go on but thought we'd give it a go anyway. After a daytime recce we formulated a plan to return under the cover of darkness as there was a lot of activity inside the dock yard. On our return we found there was still a fair bit of activity but we were much less visible so we persevered. We made it to where we thought there might be access but unfortunately all the doors were locked up. Just as we had given up all hope and were making our way out we spotted something that we'd previously missed. Luckily for us this turned out to be our sneaky way inside. Proper punch the air / high five moment! We were super stoked to get inside here. It's really one of the most incredible industrial sites I've ever explored and an amazing feat of engineering. The size of it is ridiculous and it's been festering away for so long that everything is rusting away and falling apart.
I don't watch much exploring on YouTube but when I saw Exploring the Unbeaten Path's video from here in May last year it really stood out as something a bit special. A huge underground military power station with rare diesel engines, parsons turbines, abandoned and decaying for over 30 years. What's not to like? Hats off to those guys for the find as not many people seem to know of its existence, and there is hardly any information available online. It's also tucked away underneath a live dock yard so really not somewhere you want to get caught.
I soon hatched a plan with @Sids for a trip to Malta. We didn't have much information to go on but thought we'd give it a go anyway. After a daytime recce we formulated a plan to return under the cover of darkness as there was a lot of activity inside the dock yard. On our return we found there was still a fair bit of activity but we were much less visible so we persevered. We made it to where we thought there might be access but unfortunately all the doors were locked up. Just as we had given up all hope and were making our way out we spotted something that we'd previously missed. Luckily for us this turned out to be our sneaky way inside. Proper punch the air / high five moment! We were super stoked to get inside here. It's really one of the most incredible industrial sites I've ever explored and an amazing feat of engineering. The size of it is ridiculous and it's been festering away for so long that everything is rusting away and falling apart.
Dock Yard
Spare Parts Storage
To give you an idea of the size of the place, the first four pictures were taken in an adjacent spare parts storage facility. There were three or four empty chambers like the one shown above (this photo only shows about a quarter of the length), and three long chambers full of spare parts. This was only accessible from the power plant via a small hole in the wall and parts of it were flooded so we had to take turns going in there as we only had one pair of wellies. Lots of interesting stuff in there but nowhere near as interesting as the power plant itself.
This photo was taken about half way through the chamber
Could have spent way longer in this section but we ran out of time unfortunately
Power Plant
350 KVA Transformers
A huge map showing all the power facilities and sub stations around Malta.
More transformers
Generators
Ventilation
Old graffiti dating back to 1946
More ventilation
300 KVA Transformer
A giant fire extinguisher on wheels
to be continued....
Spare Parts Storage
To give you an idea of the size of the place, the first four pictures were taken in an adjacent spare parts storage facility. There were three or four empty chambers like the one shown above (this photo only shows about a quarter of the length), and three long chambers full of spare parts. This was only accessible from the power plant via a small hole in the wall and parts of it were flooded so we had to take turns going in there as we only had one pair of wellies. Lots of interesting stuff in there but nowhere near as interesting as the power plant itself.
This photo was taken about half way through the chamber
Could have spent way longer in this section but we ran out of time unfortunately
Power Plant
350 KVA Transformers
A huge map showing all the power facilities and sub stations around Malta.
More transformers
Generators
Ventilation
Old graffiti dating back to 1946
More ventilation
300 KVA Transformer
A giant fire extinguisher on wheels
to be continued....
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