HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — In preparation for the arrival of temporary power, the Guam Power Authority is looking to relocate 20 of its Yigo diesel units to a lot adjacent to the Tenjo Vista Power Plant in Piti.
“By relocating it, it provides us the opportunity to help meet the load shedding blues that we have today, and then furthermore, the long-term needs of the community for the south. Because it could also, not only the Naval Station, but it will serve all the way to Humåtak, all the way around looping to Windward Hills, Talo’fo’fo’, and back to Hågat-Santa Rita,” GPA General Manager John Benavente said Thursday during a work session with the Consolidated Commission on Utilities.
The Yigo diesel units, which are one-megawatt units, were originally temporary power units brought in after the explosion at the Cabras 3 and 4 power plants in late 2015, and then made a permanent part of Guam’s generation capacity.
To help mitigate load shedding issues before the summer months roll in, GPA is looking to once again make use of temporary power, around 40 megawatts.
The site where the Yigo units are now is considered optimal for the permitting and commissioning of this new round of temporary power within the 100-day timeline GPA established. Moreover, the utility already was planning to relocate the Yigo diesel units to a southern location to help with recovery after a storm, according to Benavente.
The Yigo units will remain an essential part of the island’s generation capacity until the Ukudu Power Plant is commissioned in late 2025, but they aren’t in the best condition at the moment, Benavente said. When they were first brought into Guam, the units had a combined total capacity of about 40 megawatts. Today, they sit around 8 megawatts.
For more than two years, GPA attempted to get the Yigo units repaired and maintained through a performance management contract, Benavente said Thursday, but the procurement stalled due to protests and appeals.
The GPA general manager has been vocal about noted pitfalls in Guam’s procurement law, and has called for changes to occur. Bill 201-37, up for debate in this month’s legislative session, intends to waive certain procurement requirements to facilitate the maintenance and operation of specific GPA diesel units.
But Benavente stated Thursday that he has canceled the procurement for the PMC contract on the Yigo diesel units.
“It’s not going anywhere at the (Office of Public Accountability) and it’s going to go again at the court. We’re kind of dead in the water and, by the time we get through the process, the prices will change. Then, when I go in and ask everybody to change their price, … somebody else may protest again. So therefore, we thought it was in our best interest that we just try and move forward,” Benavente said.
The diesel units that GPA is looking to relocate are inoperable, according to discussions Thursday.
“They are to be relocated, and repaired or replaced,” Benavente said.
GPA estimates that restoring their capacity though repair or replacement may cost up to $7 million, with an annual operating cost of $2 million to $3 million, for a total of $13 million during the initial term of a contract.
For the remaining Yigo diesel units, the plan is to relocate them eventually to enhance infrastructure on the island, such as at schools, Benavente said.
The power utility is seeking the CCU’s approval for the relocation of the units near the Tenjo Vista Power Plant.
As for the 40 megawatts of new temporary power that GPA is hoping to bring to Guam soon, the resolution of that issue wasn’t discussed at the work session Thursday. Benavente said it’s a work in progress, and he hopes to have the matter before the CCU next week for a decision during the commission’s regular meeting.
A number of generators are seen running at the Guam Power Authority Yigo power plant on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023.
