Emergency repairs coming to the Dover power plant
A number of repairs and a new water well are coming to the Dover power plant.
A number of repairs and a new water well are coming to the Dover power plant. During a meeting of the city’s utilities committee on April 19, Dave Fillipi, the plant’s superintendent, explained the emergency need and cost of the repairs.
Fillipi asked for an additional $538,650 to repair damage to the main turbine discovered in inspections during this year’s plant shut-down. He also said repairs originally scheduled for 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19 still need to be made to the rotor.
The funds being requested are in addition to the $405,000 previously approved by council.
Committee chairman Bob Mueller acknowledged the significance of the expense.
“It’s a lot of money, but these are huge pieces of equipment,” Mueller said. “We’re also going to fix the Fairbanks Morse diesel generator because to buy a new one would cost, I’m told, $7-$8 million.”
Repairs are expected to cost more than $579,000 on the generator, which was rebuilt in 1996.
Funds for the repairs will not go through the usual bidding process for a couple of reasons, one of which is only the manufacturer can make the repairs. Additionally, if the work were to go through the bidding process, the plant would not be operational by the time peak-usage days occur in the summer.
By running during peak-capacity days, it is estimated the power plant will save customers on the Dover system a total of about $340,000 this year.
New water well also needed
Approval also was requested to dig a new well to provide adequate water for the cooling system at the plant. “The water well request has been on the books for at least a year and a half because the other wells are very old,” Mueller said.
Fillipi said with emergency passage of an ordinance to start the bidding process, the well should be completed by the end of this summer.
The well will be approximately 130 feet deep and capable of producing 2,500 gallons of water per minute or more on a sustained basis. Costs are not to exceed $120,000.
All three ordinances were passed out of committee to council for a vote the same evening.