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Kumoi recommends use of heavy fuel oil
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Posted on Aug 13 2005
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. can go back to the use of heavy fuel oil to save on costs but only for its four engines at Power Plant I, said former CUC consultant Ramon S. Guerrero.
He said engines 5 to 8, which are the newer units installed over a decade ago, can run on HFO but not engines 1 to 4.
“I highly recommend that engines 5 to 8 return to heavy fuel oil so it’s economical. These are the 13-MG machines. For engines 1 to 4, it would cost a lot of money if they use HFO,” said Guerrero.
He said engines 1 to 4 can continue using diesel but its injectors must be changed.
Guerrero said that Power Plant 1 engines still use HFO injectors.
If HFO is limited to units 5 to 8, he estimated that the repair of the HFO heating system would cost $1 million.
CUC executive director Lorraine Babauta earlier said that CUC is considering a proposal to go back to the use of heavy fuel but warned of high maintenance costs. She said it would require $6 million to build the needed infrastructure such as the heating system. She concedes that the use of heavy fuel would save 20 percent in terms of price.
Senators Diego Songao, chair of the Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications, and Joseph Mendiola said that Guam uses HFO in approximately 95 percent of its generators, which they said results in a significant reduction in fuel costs.
The senators said that Guam has successfully lobbied the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to burn the heavy fuel without costly compliance.
The senators called on CUC to lobby EPA for an exemption from certain prohibitions and allow the installation of CUC-owned fuel facility or lease from the existing Mobil Storage facility.
HFO is said to contain 5 percent of sulfur, which does not meet EPA regulations that fuel burned in the power plant must not exceed .5 percent sulfur.
