Fenaka generator deployment continues to accelerate. Fenaka Corporation has dispatched 400kW generator sets to eight islands across multiple northern atolls. Fenaka says all units have already arrived and been unloaded at each island.
The corporation frames this as part of a long-term strategy to deliver stable and sustainable power across the Maldives. That framing, however, sits against a long and painful backdrop of electricity failure in the outer islands.
The Reality on the Ground
Electricity is not a convenience for island communities. It runs refrigeration for food and medicine. It powers schools and small businesses. It keeps clinics functional. When it fails, everyday life stops.
Power cuts in parts of Addu City have been described as occurring on an hourly basis. Addu City, an atoll of six islands with a combined population exceeding 21,000, lost power for more than a week after four generators failed simultaneously. Residents described shops shutting during peak hours, children unable to prepare for school, and electronic devices damaged by sudden voltage surges when power returned.
A senior Fenaka official attributed the failures to a lack of spare parts, deferred preventive maintenance, and generators that had not been running at full operating capacity.
The problem extends well beyond Addu. In Muli, residents reported that the Managing Director of Fenaka himself acknowledged, during a presidential visit, that the island faced one of the worst electricity situations in the country. A 600kW generator was subsequently sent to Muli, but remained uninstalled. That gap between dispatch and delivery, between announcement and operation, defines the lived experience of electricity failure across many islands.
A Corporation Under Structural Strain
Fenaka operates power plants in 157 inhabited islands. That is an enormous mandate for a single state-owned enterprise. And the financial picture behind that mandate is stark.
Fenaka has perennially been on the brink of bankruptcy. By 2022, its short-term liabilities of MVR 2.2 billion outstripped assets valued at MVR 780 million. By 2024, Fenaka’s debt had reached MVR 4.3 billion.
Operating expenditures at Fenaka have historically represented 132 percent of revenues, of which 75% are diesel costs. The corporation does not generate power through renewable at scale. It burns diesel, purchased from STO, to keep lights on across 157 islands every single day. Fenaka spends approximately MVR 60 million per month on fuel alone to generate electricity across the archipelago. That figure compounds under every rise in global oil prices.
The government has historically provided usage subsidies for revenue losses and equity grants to finance grid infrastructure, support that has been critical to sustaining Fenaka’s operations. Without that backstop, the corporation could not function. But it also means that every power cut in the atolls carries a public cost far beyond inconvenience.
What the Generator Deployment Signals
The Fenaka generator deployment to these eight islands reflects a deliberate shift in approach. Rather than waiting for comprehensive infrastructure overhauls, the government is moving capacity to where demand is most acute. A 400kW generator represents a meaningful injection of supply for a small island community. It covers households, local businesses, health posts, and schools simultaneously.
Fenaka has reaffirmed that alongside the installation of new generators, it will implement permanent solutions to electricity issues, and has acknowledged that there has been a recent increase in electricity problems due to inadequate maintenance of engines. The current administration has confirmed that both generator and their maintenance were neglected previous governments.
Services across Baa Atoll, Lhaviyani Atoll, and Meemu Atoll are also set to transfer from Fenaka to STELCO, signalling a broader rationalization of the utility landscape, one that may eventually reduce Fenaka’s operational footprint and allow it to concentrate resources where they matter most.
The National Stakes
Stable electricity in the outer islands is not just a welfare issue. It underpins investment. Businesses do not set up in places where power cuts arrive without warning. Tourism guesthouses cannot operate without reliable supply. Fisheries and cold storage require uninterrupted power. Every hour of outage represents economic output that simply does not happen.
In January, President Muizzu announced special efforts to ensure 24-hour electricity provision throughout the country. The Fenaka generator deployment to eight islands is a step toward that target. But the scale of what remains, across 157 islands, with ageing infrastructure, diesel dependency, and a corporation carrying billions in debt, means that the distance between announcement and resolution remains wide.
The generators now sitting on the docks of Lhaimagu, Uligamu, and Rasgetheemu represent more than hardware. They represent a signal that the state takes the power gap seriously. Delivering on that signal means installation, commissioning, maintenance, and ultimately, a long-term shift away from diesel dependency toward the renewable infrastructure that the Maldives has committed to but not yet built at the scale these communities need.