Hoku Scientific plans solar power plants (in Hawaii)

Hoku Scientific plans solar power plants

By Jennifer Sudick
jsudick@starbulletin.com

Hawaii will soon be home to two of the largest solar power systems in North America.

Hoku Scientific Inc. and James Campbell Co. yesterday announced plans to build a solar power plant near the Campbell Industrial Park that will be capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of photovoltaic power, making it Hoku's largest project to date. The company is currently working on installing a 167-kilowatt solar power system at the Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Ward Avenue substation, as well as projects with Paradise Beverages Inc. and Bank of Hawaii.

The project, aiming to begin operation at the end of this year on 12 acres at Campbell's Kapolei Sustainable Energy Park, follows in the footsteps of a 1.5-megawatt, 10-acre solar project announced by Castle & Cooke Inc. in June for Lanai.

Permits for the Lanai project are expected to be finalized late this spring, with construction to wrap up in late summer or early fall, said Tim Hill, executive vice president of Castle & Cooke. Electricity generated by that plant will be sold to Maui Electric Co.

In its lifetime, the Campbell-Hoku system is estimated to produce enough electricity to power approximately 6,700 homes for one year and eliminate 38,161 tons of carbon dioxide while saving 120,000 barrels of oil over 25 years.

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January 22, 2008

UPC Wind Releases Kaheawa Wind Data

Boston, Massachusetts

UPC Wind has announced figures from Kaheawa Wind Power (KWP) during its 2007 commercial operations. KWP generated more than 125,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity in 2007, exceeding its production targets.

KWP biologists made discoveries in 2007 of breeding colonies of endangered seabirds in interior West Maui that were previously unknown to Hawaii's conservation community. KWP is working closely with state and federal biologists and other conservation partners to more fully document existing conditions at the colonies, and implement appropriate and beneficial conservation and protection measures.

"As Maui's first utility-scale wind project, Kaheawa Wind Power demonstrates that clean, renewable energy production is a feasible, viable commercial opportunity for Hawaii," said Paul Gaynor, president and CEO of UPC Wind. "In addition, we are pleased that this project is playing a significant role in helping Hawaii to achieve a state-wide goal of 20 percent renewable energy generation by the year 2020."