State of emergency looks to rectify Majuro’s ongoing power problems
BY GIFF JOHNSON Marshall Islands Correspondent
MAJURO, Marshall Islands — The continuing dire power situation in Majuro prompted incoming President Hilda C. Heine — elected for a second term Jan. 2 after a four-year hiatus — to make power one of the top priorities on her new government’s agenda.
On Jan. 24, Heine signed a state of emergency declaration for the power situation, adding resources and focus to Majuro’s ongoing and deteriorating power situation.
The backdrop to the problem is the government utility’s reliance on engines that are from 24 to more than 40 years old. While Marshalls Energy Co. engineers remarkably keep these antiquated engines functional, the engines eat up more and more time with maintenance needs. With no backup engine capacity, when the power plant has to turn off engines for maintenance — a regular occurrence in January — it is forced to turn off sections of the capital atoll for lack of generating capacity.
A drone view of the large fuel storage facility in the foreground and the two power plants operated by the Marshalls Energy Co. in Majuro. Photo by Tyler Milne Unplanned and emergency power outages continue as an almost daily fact of life in Majuro. During January, some sections of Majuro Atoll saw their power go off unexpectedly and remain off for more than 30 hours in one outage, and an astounding 65 hours in late January as power plant engineers struggled to fix the aging generating equipment.
Most businesses are remaining operational by running backup generators on a nearly daily basis. Robert Reimers Enterprises backup system powers its hotel and restaurant, a gas station, Ace Hardware, the Bank of Marshall Islands and the main post office, keeping them running during outages.
The seriousness and length of power outages in January prompted Mayor Ladie Jack to send a critical letter to Marshalls Energy Co. management at the end of January.
Jack, who was elected to a third four-year term by a landslide in November, expressed the concern of local residents to the power company: “The extended power outages have caused severe inconvenience and hardship for many individuals and families. The frequency and duration of these outages are unacceptable, and it is imperative for the power company to take immediate and proactive measures to address this issue.”
Jack Chong-Gum, CEO of the power company; said that several additional container generators have been rented from the Papua New Guinea-based company, Aggreko, and are expected to arrive on island toward the end of February to join several already on site. Once they arrive, these will give the utility about five megawatts of additional generating capacity, which Choing-Gum said would help to stabilize the situation.
In the meantime, the company is preparing to put up a new power plant building, and with a grant from the World Bank, is installing four megawatts of solar panels around Majuro to feed renewable energy into the city power grid, as well as purchasing two new engines to replace the more than 40-year-old units at the power plant.
Heine didn’t waste any time before focusing on power in the nation’s capital. In her inauguration speech on Jan. 22, she declared the most immediate priority of the new government was infrastructure. “First and foremost,” she said, “our power supply.”
The president pointed out that Majuro “has been suffering the worst power outages we’ve seen in decades over this past weekend and these past few weeks. We need to take steps necessary to understand where these problems with our power system originated, to ensure we never experience this level of inadequacy again.
Heine said the current problems show “why we must diversify our energy sector and pivot our focus back to continuing the implementation of our National Energy Roadmap and investing in renewables.” One serious spinoff problem from the frequent outages is the water utility’s inability to pump fresh and salt water (used for toilets) during outages. It has taken on a new imperative with an El Niño-driven dry season with little rain, which means island residents depend more heavily on the city water company’s ability to provide water.
Purchased last year and newly arrived on island, backup generators to power fresh and saltwater service in Majuro are soon to be installed, so that service can continue despite ongoing power outages, the general manager of the water company said.
A ceremony to bless and handover the new generators, purchased by Japan through the United Nations Development Program, was held Jan. 30. Damian Capelle, general manager of the Majuro Water and Sewer Co.; said it will take a couple of months to install the new backup generators for both fresh water and saltwater pumps, and then power outages won’t affect water service. - Also see “Marshall Islands Declares State Of Emergency,” on www.mbjguam.com. mbj
