Ahead of its planned opening later this month in the Commonwealth Of The Northern Mariana Islands, the under-construction Imperial Pacific Resort And Hotel Saipan is to be provided with a test load of one-megawatt of electricity by the government-run Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

According to a report from the Marianas Variety newspaper, this initial provision is set to grow by another 2.5 megawatts in mid-January before an additional 2.5 megawatts is added in advance of the opening of the Garapan facility before the end of celebrations to mark the coming Chinese New Year.

“This is all for testing and going through most of January,” Gary Camacho, Acting Executive Director for the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, told the newspaper.

Camacho also told the Marianas Variety that the Imperial Pacific Resort And Hotel Saipan, which is being built by Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited and its Best Sunshine International Limited subsidiary, is set to require around ten megawatts of total power when fully operational while the nearby 300-room Saipan hotel currently under construction by Honest Profit International Limited will need approximately one megawatt of electricity.

The newspaper reported that the Kensington Hotel Saipan from developer Micronesia Resort Incorporated is moreover to be provided with one megawatt of power, which has prompted the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation to seriously consider the possibility of expanding its power generation capacity by up to 40 megawatts.

“Our reserve [capacity] is fine and we’re bringing in the means to acquire expansion capacity,” Camacho told the Marianas Variety.

The newspaper reported that the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation can currently produce some 56.8 megawatts of power while its reserve capacity stands at 18.5 megawatts with a peak load of 38.3 megawatts. The utility furthermore expects to be able to offer an additional 5.4 megawatts following the restoration of three units at Power Plant Two in March.