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CUC to re-advertise new power engine purchase
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is going to re-advertise a bid process to acquire a new 8-13-megawatt generator set to replace a failed power engine at CUC’s Power Plant 1 in Lower Base.
The first time when bids were sought for the project, the winning bidder did not follow the conditions of the advertisement in the request for proposals so CUC canceled the company’s bid, said CUC executive director Gary P. Camacho Wednesday.
“So we have to re-advertise that,” Camacho said.
The engine that needs to be replaced is engine No. 8.
Camacho said the committee that reviews bid proposals was satisfied with the cancellation of the original bid. He emphasized that the Office of the Attorney General is a member of that committee.
The request for submission of proposals for the replacement of that engine was supposed to end in October 2018, but CUC extended the deadline to Nov. 16, 2018, in the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu.
Camacho earlier stated that CUC has the funds to buy a new engine.
In August 2008, engine No. 8 went down due to a water pump problem, causing rotating outages across Saipan at that time.
CUC has stated that its strategy to replace old engines as part of its five-year capital program will allow CUC to create a project to construct a new power generating plant into which the new generator sets can transition to during is construction.
