THE Office of the Governor has awarded the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation $5 million to procure an 8- to 10-megawatt generator set replacement unit for Power Plant 1, CUC Executive Director Gary Camacho said on Friday.
“Governor Torres has supported the needs of CUC since he was a senator and continues to support the partial contribution for this greatly needed acquisition for the CNMI,” Camacho added.
He said CUC has been constantly repairing many of its aging diesel engines, many of which are 50 years old.
“The replacement of this critically important infrastructure is necessary in order to stabilize the supply of electricity to residential homes, businesses, government offices, and other economic-driving sectors,” he added. “With the additional new engine, an ample supply of electricity will be generated to keep our water systems and wastewater treatment stations operational. It will also solve several of CUC’s biggest concerns with grid stability, overheating engines, and the cycling of its engines.”
According to CUC, the new fuel-efficient engine “will add the necessary infrastructure for CUC to begin its journey into emerging technologies with a 20-MW Solar Photovoltaic Farm with battery storage units in the near distant future.”
“The first unit replacement was acquired and is currently in transit from South Korea and waiting for logistics to be finalized at the CNMI port,” Camacho said. “With the most recent funding, CUC will soon initiate the procurement process.”
He said “this is in part a huge investment in the right direction for the utilities sector. The public too, will receive the benefits of this technological acquisition as it will help lower rates and secure our infrastructure….”
Gary Camacho
