Latest renewable energy news
Wind energy With wind farms in operation on Hawaii Island and Maui Island, wind energy is already a big part of Hawaii’s renewable energy portfolio. Wind energy will become even more important to reaching the 2030 Renewable Portfolio Standard established by the 2009 Legislature (Act 155). That RPS goal is to reach 40 percent of electricity sales from renewable energy by 2030. | • | On Hawaii Island, wind farms are operating at Hawi in North Kohala, at Lalamilo near Waikoloa and at South Point. | | • | On Maui Island, the Kaheawa Wind Farm above Ma’alaea in the West Maui mountains is being expanded and preliminary work is ongoing for a wind farm on Ulupalakua Ranch land in central Maui. | | • | For Oahu, a purchase power agreement has been submitted for approval to the Public Utilities Commission for a wind farm on the North Shore near Kahuku which hosted an early, experimental wind farm in the 1980s. More wind farms may be possible on Oahu’s North Shore which has some of the best wind capacity on the island. |
The biggest wind energy effort in the works is the Interisland Wind Project. The project consists of private developers building large wind farms on Molokai and Lanai, where the winds are very strong, and for the electricity to be moved to Oahu where demand for electricity is greatest via an undersea cable to be built and owned by the State of Hawaii. While the project is still in the early planning stages, all parties have promised that a thorough environmental review will be completed on all parts of the project.
Wind holds great promise for Hawaii, but also has its challenges. The wind does not blow steadily or regularly, so the electricity from wind farms is variable or “non-firm.” Also, in some places the wind is strongest at night when the demand for electricity is lowest. Many companies are working on technologies and systems to “smooth” the wind power to reduce the problems of fluctuation and storing electric power from wind farms to make it available when it is most needed. To learn more about wind, click here. To learn more about the Interisland Wind Project, visit www.interislandwind.com and www.hawaiicleanenergyintiative.com and click on undersea cable. More renewable energy projects on Oahu Hawaiian Electric Company is seeking developers for a competitive bidding process to supply added renewable energy With the approval from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Hawaiian Electric Company issued a request for proposals in 2008 asking for bidders to provide up to 100 megawatts of ‘non-firm’ renewable energy to Oahu’s power grid. Bidders were allowed to submit larger alternate proposals or subsequent phases of more renewable energy. The winning bidders are expected to be announced in early 2010. In addition, Hawaiian Electric is continuing discussions with other potential renewable energy providers who began working with the utility before the PUC required competitive bidding. These include wind, waste-to-energy and ocean thermal energy conversion projects. Learn about seeking more renewable energy for Oahu. Biodiesel Biodiesel, a renewable fuel, can be produced from many different plants that contain vegetable oils, including palm, soy, jatropha, kukui and coconut, or from reuse of waste grease from restaurants and other sources. Research on using marine algae to create biodiesel is entering the demonstration stage with a project planned for the Natural Energy Laboratory (NELHA) in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island. Hawaiian Electric’s goal in pursuing biofuels in general and biodiesel in particular is not just to reduce our use of imported fossil fuel and our impact on global warming. An agricultural energy industry would also protect Hawaii’s open space, revive agriculture, create jobs, and keep more of Hawaii’s spending on energy at home. Biofuel on Oahu In approving Hawaiian Electric’s new Campbell Industrial Park Generating Station, the Public Utilities Commission confirmed an agreement reached between the State Consumer Advocate and Hawaiian Electric to fuel this new 110-megawatt peaking plant entirely with renewable biofuel. Emissions testing of the new unit using biodiesel was completed in late 2009 and a contract to supply high quality biodiesel processed from used cooking oil (known as yellow grease) and waste animal fat is with the Public Utilities Commission for review and approval. More renewable waste-to-energy Hawaiian Electric worked with the City & County of Honolulu on the re-bidding of the H-POWER waste-to-energy project. In late December 2009, ground was broken for the H-POWER Expansion Project to add a third boiler to the facility operated by Covanta Energy Corporation, expanding the amount of garbage it can combust and electricity it can generate. The expansion is expected to be completed in late 2011 or early 2012. After the expansion H-POWER will increase its present approximately 46 MW to 73 MW sold to the Hawaiian Electric grid. Learn more about waste to energy. Teaming Up to Grow Algae for Biofuel on Maui High-tech start-up HR BioPetroleum, Maui landowner Alexander & Baldwin, and Hawaiian Electric and Maui Electric companies are partnering to grow algae for biofuel on Maui. The plan is to create a commercial-scale algae facility to produce oil for conversion to biodiesel and other valuable products, such as animal feed on land adjacent to the Ma’alaea Power Plant. Microalgae have significant potential as an energy crop, with the prospect for very high levels of oil production per acre. When combined with other vegetable-oil crops that could be grown locally, such as jatropha or palm, algae could help meet the biodiesel feedstock for biodiesel on Maui, which now fuels about 85 percent of its combustion generation with petroleum diesel. Under the agreements: | • | HR BioPetroleum will be responsible for overall project management, including obtaining financing, and construction and operation of the microalgae facility. | | • | Alexander & Baldwin will provide strategically located land, adjacent to Maui Electric’s Ma’alaea Power Plant, to site the algae production ponds and processing plant, and may provide equity capital to the project. | | • | Hawaiian Electric and Maui Electric companies will lead in determining the permitting and construction needs for piping to carry stack gases containing carbon dioxide, which the algae consume, from the Ma’alaea plant to an adjacent algae facility. |
Construction of the commercial microalgae facility will depend on factors that include confirmation of algae performance data from HRBP’s demonstration facilities; required regulatory approvals; project financing; and the signing of final agreements among HR BioPetroleum, Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Alexander & Baldwin. Assuming these succeed as planned, the first phase of the commercial facility could be in operation by 2011.
More information about HR BioPetroleum. Learn more about biofuels’ opportunities and challenges. Ocean Energy The ocean is the largest energy storehouse on the planet, capturing the suns rays and creating kinetic energy as winds create waves, currents and tides. The Hawaiian Electric companies have been monitoring progress in ocean energy technologies for over a decade and plans are in place to add this resource to the portfolio of renewable energy sources here. Wave energy on Maui In February, 2008, Oceanlinx Ltd., an Australia-based international high-tech company, announced plans to provide electricity to Maui Electric Company from Hawaii’s first wave energy project. The plan is to provide up to 2.7 megawatts from two or three floating platforms located one-half to three-quarters of a mile due north of Pauwela Point on the northeast coast of Maui.
Oceanlinx offers a unique, commercially efficient wave-to-electricity system combining the established science of the oscillating water column with the company’s own patented turbine technology. Rising and falling sea swells push and pull air past the turbine; its blades shift in response to the direction of the air flow, enabling the turbine to turn continuously in one direction. Electricity is then brought ashore through an undersea cable to a substation tied to the island electrical grid.
The project is expected be operational by 2012. The cost, borne by Oceanlinx and its investors, is estimated at $20 million. Oceanlinx will prepare an environmental impact statement for the project and apply for necessary permits and approvals. Maui Electric Company will execute a purchase power agreement with Oceanlinx and seek approvals from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. For more information about Oceanlinx (previously Energetech Australia Pty. Ltd. founded in 1997). Learn more about ocean energy. Hawaii’s Energy Future Learn about Hawaiian Electric Company’s commitment and plans to renewable energy. On this site you can learn about the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, the Hawaiian Electric Company-Natural Resources Defense Council’s Sustainable Biofuels Procurement Policy, the Ocean Energy Development Guidelines designed to encourage ocean energy developers to begin projects here and many other efforts. You can also comment and ask questions about Hawaii’s preferred energy future. # # #
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