The spare parts, worth over $755,000 which will go to the Palau Public Utilities Corporation are funded by Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) under the Follow-Up Scheme Project called “Supply and Delivery of Spare and Replacement parts and Maintenance Assistance for Mitsubishi Diesel Generators”.
From 1996 to 1998, Palau received a three-phase JICA Grant Aid project called “The Project for Upgrade of the Electrical Power System in the Republic of Palau”. The project cost approximately $22 million and included the purchase of two power generators known as Mitsubishi #12 and #13. These two generators are housed at the Malakal Power Plant and have a capacity load of about 6.8 megawatt.
To date, the total electricity demand for Koror and all of Babeldaob is at 12 megawatt that is supplied by the Mitsubishi generators at Malakal Power Plant and other generators at the Aimeliik Power Plant.
However both Mitsubishi generators are now due for major overhaul and parts replacement, PPUC applied for and was granted JICA’s Follow-Up Grant Scheme.
The grant is also threefold beginning with the Survey and Monitoring Phase that includes a follow-up study, dispatch of an engineer, and others.
The next step is the Equipment and Facilities Phase that includes the procurement of replacement equipment/parts and spare parts for repair. The final step of the project is the Aftercare Training Program for the Implementing Agency.
With this the Japan government also deployed Hideo Oya, a JICA Expert with over 35 years experience in the field of Mechanical Engineering to provide supervisory assistance for major overhauls, assist PPUC plan for, and execute regular maintenance of generators.
The spare parts would help PPUC major overhaul on Mitsubishi 13 generator and bring it online within a month. The spare parts include cylinder covers, liners, pistons, and big end bearing caps.
The Japan government is also preparing to dispatch a consultant team to do a feasibility study on further improvements of electricity supply for Palau.
According to Ambassador Sadaoka, “The Government of Japan fully supports Palau’s endeavor to transition to a private sector driven economy under the second Compact Agreement. It is our great pleasure to assist Palau and PPUC to provide efficient electricity supply to the people of Palau. Steady electricity supply is indispensable for Palau to further promote tourism, seek new investments and to develop new industries. Through the assistances of technical skills, spare parts, and others, I sincerely hope that PPUC will greatly enhance its capacity to maintain its operation thus providing efficient and economical power supply to the people of Palau. ”
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