Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez | SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Rican contractors perform repairs and calibration to a...... read more read more
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –Members of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, with the support of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the Soldiers from the 249th Engineer Battalion were able to stabilize available electricity in the Northern San Juan area. This project, estimated to take 30 days, was completed in 22 days.
USACE has been working at the Palo Seco Power Plant, installing two 25 mega-watt generators. This is a temporary solution for the 602 mega-watt power capabilities at the power plant, that have been out of commission since August 2017. Adding the two temporary generators is a good step towards power restoration, especially in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
“We are providing about 50 mega-watts at any given point during the day to the local grid. That doesn’t mean that additional citizens connected to this local grid are receiving power that weren’t before these generators were installed, but what it does mean is that those who are already receiving power are experiencing greater stability, fewer blackouts and things like that.” said Cpt. Josh Rud, Deputy Project Manager with USACE at the Palo Seco Power Plant, a steam turbine power plant.
Many of the early challenges were logistical in nature, importing equipment to the island and escorting it to the project site.
The bulk storage fuel tank that provided the generators about 70 gallons of diesel fuel per minute was out of service. USACE had to repair this tank and bring it back up to standards. They also had to install a new fuel line, pumps, filters and other essentials, to meet General Electric's specs for the generators.
They also had to ensure the ground underneath could hold the six modules that represent the two generators. The heaviest of these modules weigh 157,000 pounds.
This is the first big project for Task Force Power, who is part of the USACE organization responsible for restoring power in Puerto Rico.
According to Rud, USACE believes the relationships that they made will be beneficial as they continue to bring back the power to the island.
“The big takeaway from this project was the working relationships that we developed with PREPA, the Puerto Rican Power Authority. USACE didn’t do this on their own. This was a very close coordinated project with PREPA as well as FEMA and all the logistical support,” said Rud.
| Date Taken: | 11.01.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2017 18:44 |
| Story ID: | 253795 |
| Location: | PR |
| Web Views: | 56 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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