HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The 198-megawatt combined cycle power plant, slated to become Guam’s next baseload power plant for the foreseeable future, has finally broken ground at Ukudu.
The Korea Electric Power Corp. or KEPCO and Korea East West Power consortium will construct and maintain the power plant under a 25-year energy-conversion agreement with the Guam Power Authority.
The two entered into the agreement in November 2019, under which GPA will purchase energy from the plant during the length of the contract term. Afterward, ownership of the plant converts to GPA.
The power plant is a key project for the utility agency and for Guam, not just as a significant power source for the island, but as a major milestone in the consent decree between GPA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. GPA entered into the consent decree to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for violating federal emissions regulations.
The Ukudu plant should meet those regulations, as well as facilitate more renewable energy integration while reducing fuel consumption through more efficient generators, according to officials.
Construction was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Permitting concerns also hampered the project, which was adjusted to include a separate reserve generation facility at Piti, in order to accommodate a faster permitting process. That facility needed a legislative exemption due to a local distancing law for fossil fuel facilities.
Leases for the main Ukudu site and the reserve facility site also needed legislative approval before lenders would release more than $500 million in funding for the project — the bulk of the financing.
The plant’s commissioning is now scheduled to take place by April 2024. The plant was initially scheduled to be completed by October 2022. KEPCO Senior Vice President Heyn-Bin Lee acknowledged that completing construction in time won’t be easy.
“We have to consider worldwide transportation and inflation rates caused by the Covid-19 crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war. We also have to consider that Guam is an island and the rainy season could affect the construction progress. However, we will ensure that the electricity is provided in time despite such difficult circumstances,” Heyn-Bin said during remarks at Lotte Hotel Guam on Wednesday.
GPA General Manager John Benavente said the construction timeline is about 24 to 27 months. A “substantial” amount of permitted work has been done, he said.
“The foundation, clearing of the site … they are on their way already,” Benavente said.
Major equipment, such as the generators for the facility, could be coming any day, perhaps in the next month or two, according to Benavente.
Officials also held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the solar power plant in Mangilao, which is another KEPCO project. The ribbon cutting was to officially celebrate the solar plant’s commissioning, which occurred last month.
Dignitaries line up for a ribbon-cutting at the Mangilao Solar Power Plant on July 20. Ground was also broken in Ukudu, Dededo for the new 198-megawatt combined-cycle power plant.
