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Northern villages now free from load shedding
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Posted on Sep 07 2005
The three generators at the former La Fiesta shopping complex are now providing power supply to the northern Saipan villages.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta reported yesterday that the villages of Achugao, San Roque, As Matuis, and Marpi had been isolated from the rest of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s grid since last week.
The La Fiesta engines used to generate power only for the shopping complex and Hotel Nikko Saipan. They have a power generating capacity of 1 megawatt each. One megawatt feeds power to about 750 homes or one large hotel.
CUC managed to utilize the La Fiesta generators for the second partial of Feeder 7 by installing a transformer and switchgears to the mall’s power generation system.
Since last week, the northern part of the island has no longer been affected by load shedding.
The Babauta administration, which is in control of CUC, will have another public briefing on the power status at 11am today at the Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
At the briefing, CUC and the administration will provide an update on load shedding and on the repair being done on the three broken engines at a power plant in Lower Base.
CUC’s contractor, Man B&W Singapore Ltd., reported Tuesday that it had completed the repair of Engine No. 8. This 13-megawatt generator will provide additional capacity to CUC and enable the utility to end the rotating blackouts on Saipan.
CUC started load shedding on July 28, 2005 due to lack of generation capacity. The utility generates only 60 megawatts of power a day. This is 8 megawatts short of the demand during peak hours.
Two weeks ago, the governor promised to end load shedding by Monday, Sept. 6.
