HAWAII UTILITY BUYS WIND

Hawai'i Public Utilities Commission Approves Contract For Kawailoa Wind Energy Project
December 13, 2011 (First Wind)

"The Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission…approved an agreement between First Wind and Hawaiian Electric Company for the utility to purchase renewable energy produced by the proposed 69-megawatt (MW) Kawailoa Wind project on Oahu’s North Shore…Under the contract, Kawailoa Wind Power, a subsidiary of Massachusetts-based First Wind, will sell as-available renewable energy to Hawaiian Electric at pre-determined prices over 20 years, providing a valuable hedge against fluctuating oil prices.

"The Kawailoa Wind project will be built on former Kawailoa Plantation land…owned by Kamehameha Schools. It will employ 30 Siemens SWT-2.3-101 wind turbines, each able to generate up to 2.3 MW…When completed, Kawailoa Wind will be the largest wind energy project in the state, able to generate clean, renewable energy equivalent to that needed to power approximately 14,500 Oahu homes. The project is scheduled to…be operating by the end of 2012…"

First Wind's Kaheawa project. Kawailoa will have bigger turbines. (click to enlarge)

"…First Wind developed a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for Kawailoa Wind, working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife of the Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources. The HCP is a wildlife conservation effort that includes research funding and actions to protect and minimize incidental harm to federally listed species in the vicinity of the wind energy project…

"First Wind also owns and operates two other wind energy projects in Hawaii…[T]he 30 MW Kaheawa wind energy project above Ma’alaea, Maui provides up to 9 percent of the electricity distributed by Maui Electric Company and is in the process of expansion. Kahuku Wind Power on Oahu's North Shore is also a 30 MW wind project that generates energy equivalent to the power for 7,700 Oahu homes…"