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<\/p>\nThe Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has been awarded $645,000 by the U.S. Department of Interior for the design phase of a solar farm on Saipan.<\/p>\n
In an interview with CUC executive director Kevin Watson last week, he shared that CUC awarded consulting firm GHD Inc. a contract to design a 20-megawatt Solar Farm for Saipan as part of CUC\u2019s ultimate goal of 100% renewal energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe contract has been awarded to GHD. It\u2019s a fully executed contract now and the final signatures were done last Wednesday. This is for the [design] of a 20-megawatt Solar Farm and Battery Energy Storage System. We will have a kickoff meeting in a week or two and issue them a notice to proceed. They are aware and they will start on the design of the solar farm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a step in the right direction of our ultimate goal of reaching 100% renewal power by 2045,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Watson explained that a solar farm will produce electrical power through a solar grid over several hundreds of acres of land that will help the CNMI lower its dependence on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be connected to the grid and will have a battery storage unit for when the sun isn\u2019t shining during the day. We have identified the land where the Solar Farm will be built and we\u2019re presently acquiring that land. I will disclose this at a later date. The solar farm will generate 20 megawatts [pf power] which is almost 50% of the power that we presently use on Saipan. Our power demand right now is around 40-45 megawatts per day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Watson clarified that while this award only entails the design phase, a construction phase is forthcoming.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis grant came from the U.S. Department of Interior office of InsularAaffairs DOI-OIA office. We\u2019d like to thank them for their continued support. It was a $645,000 grant. This is only for the design, not the construction. The construction will be a future project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ultimate estimate for the construction of this solar farm from our engineering group was $60 million to $90 million. We\u2019re designing this now so that we can use it for the construction phase. This is still several years down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kevin Watson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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