Previous Story
‘Get Tinian power to Saipan via underwater cable’
|
Posted on Jun 22 2008
A lawmaker has urged the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to consider the possibility of transmitting electricity from Tinian to Saipan using an underwater power cable.
Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz said an underwater power line is an option that can provide temporary relief to Saipan’s power crisis.
“While this might seem like a far-fetched idea, I believe that this option is feasible and attainable,” said Dela Cruz.
According to him, power converters can be installed on each island which will convert the high voltage alternating current coming from Tinian’s 20-megawatt power plant to high voltage direct current, which will be the current carried by the cable. The power converter on Saipan will then convert the direct current back to alternating current and feed it into Saipan’s power grid.
“If we look at this closely, this temporary relief option makes logical sense,” said Dela Cruz. He noted that Tinian uses approximately 5 megawatts of the 20-megawatt capacity that the Tinian power plant can generate, leaving approximately 15 megawatts of power unused and available.
He added that the advantage of the cable is that it can be used both directions. This means that in the future, when the Saipan’s plants are repaired or replaced, Saipan can provide electricity to Tinian either by fossil fuel plants or alternative energy generation such as geothermal as Gov. Benigno R. Fitial is proposing from Pagan.
There is no word on how much it would cost to lay the power cable under the channel between the two islands.
Further, Dela Cruz said, the same option could be applied on Rota, which is about the same distance to Guam as Saipan is to Tinian. He said the Commonwealth could enter into an agreement with Guam so that the Guam Power Authority could supply the power needs of Rota.
“Under this option, the Commonwealth and most especially CUC could relieve itself of the present situation regarding dilapidated engines and the expensive task of supplying and transporting fuel to Rota,” he said.
