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Another CUC engine now online
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Posted on Oct 22 2005
Another engine has finished undergoing repair in Power Plant 1 and should be fully functional this weekend, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. reported on Thursday.
Engine No. 3 has been down since Aug. 1, 2005 due to crankpin seizure.
Although designed to produce up to 7.27 megawatts of power, Engine No. 3 contributes 6.5 megawatts of electricity to CUC’s daily power generation capacity.
According to CUC, power personnel completed machining the crankshaft one of the engine’s crankpins on Sept. 8, 2005. CUC received the special crankpin bearing ordered from off-island on Oct. 17 and installed it immediately.
Load testing began on Wednesday and is expected to be finished this weekend.
CUC personnel also replaced the engine’s lube oil separator to prevent future crankpin seizures.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta said the repair of Engine No. 3 cost the government about $100,000.
The completion of Engine No. 3’s repair will bring CUC’s total power generation capacity to 74.2 megawatts from the current 67.7 megawatts.
Saipan has a daily load demand of about 68 megawatts.
The power that will be generated by Engine No. 3 will therefore serve as excess capacity for CUC.
Currently, the two Lower Base power plants provide 56.2 megawatts per day—with Power Plant 1 generating 53 megawatts and Power Plant 2 producing the rest.
All of the three generators at Power Plant 3 are not operational. This plant in Isley Field at the Saipan International Airport area is designed to produce 4.5 megawatts of power.
The privately run Power Plant 4 in Puerto Rico is generating 11.5 megawatts per day. Its biggest generator, with a capacity of 3.5 megawatts, is down due to a crankshaft problem. All of the seven other engines are working.
