Hawaii’s last coal plant is closed. Great news! In 1996 with former colleagues, we installed the first “large” grid-connected PV system in Hawaii, a 100 kW system on Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, to be followed by many more solar and wind projects of increasing scale. Last month, Clearway inaugurated The 39-MW Mililani Solar power plant is paired with a 156 MWh battery storage system on Oahu, the same island as the now-closed coal plant. Nextracker Inc. was privileged to support that fantastic project. 25 years ago, burning oil and coal comprised over 90% of power generation in Hawaii. Today, there is no coal, and oil is less than 50% with renewables + storage contributing 40% of energy requirements.
With today’s incredibly affordable solar+storage and wind energy solutions, Hawaii could save billions of annual energy costs by further accelerating its renewables programs. Great developers like Clearway Energy Group, Longroad Energy, The AES Corporation, and Potentia Renewables Inc. are investing and supported by EPCs, including Moss & Associates (Construction), Lendlease and others in this program.
We support the Hawaii legislature’s goal of 100% renewable power and believe this can happen over the next ten years if stakeholders work together. Read the post here
Shug
