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Engine trip triggers islandwide power outage
The entire island of Saipan experienced an islandwide power outage in the early morning hours of Feb. 5, 2020, which the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. blamed on a power engine that tripped due to mechanical issues that cascaded into the other power plant engines.
According to a CUC statement yesterday, it said that Engine No. 7 at Power Plant 1 tripped at 1:25am, when the oil mist detector identified a problem that triggered the protection devices and automatically tripped the engine.
“The load from Engine No. 7 was automatically transferred to another unit, which experienced low frequency, causing the entire power plant to trip, resulting in an islandwide outage,” the statement added.
CUC’s Power Generation personnel then performed assessments on the engine and coordinated with field linemen to restore power to the entire island by 5:53am. Investigation of the incident is ongoing and adjustments are expected to be made to resolve this problem.
There were no water and wastewater service interruptions during this power outage; however, due to the low water tank levels of the Dandan and Isley Tanks, CUC customers in Lower Dandan, Koblerville, As Lito, As Perdido, Airport Road, San Antonio, Chalan Kanoa, Susupe and Oleai are being advised to conserve water for the next 24-hours to prevent the water wells from running dry and to also report leaks to the CUC Call Center at (670) 664-4282.
Updates will follow as soon as they are available. For more information, contact the CUC Customer Call Center (664-4282)/CUC Hotline (236-4333), or monitor its Facebook page for the latest updates (https://www.facebook.com/CommonwealthUtilitiesCorporationi).
