Power plant engine gets much-needed overhaul

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is set to bring down another engine at Power Plant 1 that has been overdue for major repair and maintenance for over three years.

CUC has reported a plan to voluntarily shut down Engine No. 1 for overhaul on Nov. 1, 2005. Work on the generator is expected to take two months.

“This engine is 24,000 hours overdue for maintenance. It’s time to give it a little break,” Gov. Juan N. Babauta said.

The estimated cost of overhauling the engine is $400,000.

Although designed to generate 7.27 megawatts, Engine No. 1 currently provides only 6.5 megawatts of power to Saipan.

CUC assured Saipan customers that the repair of Engine No. 1 would not result in power outages, as the utility has enough power generation capacity to handle the island’s demand.

With work on Engine No. 3 completed, CUC now has capacity of about 74 megawatts a day. Saipan’s daily demand averages 68 megawatts.

CUC personnel are also in the process of rehabilitating several other engines at Power Plant 1.

Engine No. 4, which has been down due to crankpin seizure since July 16, 2005, is having its lube oil separator replaced. This engine, which needs new crankshaft, is not expected to be back online in 9 months. It has also been overdue for maintenance for nine months.

CUC is also replacing the cooling systems of Engine Nos. 5 and 6 to increase their output generating capacity. Maintenance on these 13-megawatt generators has also been long overdue.

At Power Plant 2, only two of the 2.5-megawatt six engines are currently working: Engine Nos. 1 and 5.

CUC is still waiting for replacement parts to fix Engine Nos. 2, 3, and 6. As for Engine No. 4, CUC said the radiator motor had been repaired and the generator was expected to be operational soon.

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.