Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has signed the law allowing CUC to hire up to 19 guest workers for its Power Plant 1.
Yesterday, at the power plant, only Engines 3 and 6 were online, generating at least 10 megawatts while Engines 2 and 8 were undergoing extensive repair, Muna said.
The daily power outages will continue, but he said the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport will not be included in the load shedding schedule.
The commercial district of Garapan will also have continuous power from afternoon until night time, Muna said.
CUC’s additional maintenance personnel have limited working hours because of the “hot environment and difficult working conditions” at the plant, but Muna said they can now repair the engines faster.
With no available spare parts, Muna said they have to take the reconditioned spare parts from engines that are not online, such as numbers 5 and 7 of Power Plant 1.
CUC has purchased parts for Engines 2, 3, 6 and 8 in the last two years, but more parts are needed for Engine 5, Muna said.
Engine 7 will be overhauled by a contractor by Sept. 25, he added.
Muna said by Sept 12 power outages on Saipan should be “minimal” as Aggreko’s generators are switched on.
“Minimal,” he added, means a power interruption that has nothing to do with the engines and is caused by an unusual situation in the field that affects the power line such as a storm or an accident.
“Hopefully, there would not be an issue of not having money to pay for the fuel,” he said.
CUC will pay Aggreko $6 million for the generators during a 12-month period.
The first shipment of Aggreko’s infrastructure components for its generators arrived on Aug. 23 and the second shipment, containing some generators, is scheduled to arrive on Aug. 31.
On Sept. 6, the third shipment will arrive and Aggreko will have six days to install the generators in Lower Base.
On Sept. 12, CUC will be able to use 13 megawatts of power produced by Aggreko.
Muna said Aggreko’s engineers are on Saipan, coordinating with CUC and preparing the site to ensure the proper installation of the generators.
