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Will today mark end of rolling blackouts?
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Posted on Sep 05 2005
Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s word on ending rotating blackouts will be tested today.
Two weeks ago, the governor promised that a broken 13-megawatt engine at Power Plant 1 would be fixed by today, Sept. 6, 2005.
Despite the delayed delivery of needed materials and the onslaught of a typhoon, it appears that the repair of Engine No. 8 has been completed on time.
“Everything has been done on schedule. We are confident that the engine will be back in service by Tuesday,” said Pamela Mathis, Commonwealth Utilities Corporation special adviser for corporate communications.
CUC had yet to issue a load shedding schedule as of 6:30pm yesterday. The utility normally sends the schedule to media outlets and other organizations at least one day in advance.
Once operational, Engine No. 8 will provide additional capacity of 10.5 megawatts to CUC. It will enable the utility to handle the community’s demand for electricity and end load shedding, which has resulted in rotating two-hour blackouts on Saipan since July 28.
Currently, CUC generates only 60 megawatts of power a day. This is 8 megawatts short of the demand during peak hours.
One megawatt feeds power to about 750 homes, or one large hotel.
CUC and Man B&W encountered at least two major problems in meeting the Sept. 6 target date for the completion on the engine repair.
On Aug. 25, the day that Babauta announced the deadline, Man B&W was informed that there would be a minimum four-day delay in the arrival of the chockfast material purchased and shipped from Singapore. The material finally arrived on Aug. 29.
Then, Typhoon Nabi hit the Northern Marianas on Aug. 31, bringing in intense rain and heavy winds that stopped much of the work being done at the power plant.
Nevertheless, power plant personnel managed to complete the month-long repair and conducted final calibrations on Engine No. 8 last Saturday, Sept. 3.
The repair of Engine No. 8 involved the installation of 17 anchor bolts, which would prevent severe vibration on the power generator.
