Hawaiian Electric Company will deploy 2GWh battery energy storage project

    According to reports, the utility company Hawaiian Electric Corporation has announced that it has applied for the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to review and approve the company’s plans to deploy seven solar + energy storage projects on Oahu and Maui, as well as an independent deployment of storage. The contract for the off grid electrical energy project includes photovoltaic power generation facilities with an installed capacity of nearly 300MW and a battery energy storage system with a total energy storage capacity of nearly 2GWh.

    Energy developer Plus Power is developing an independently deployed Kapolei Battery Energy Storage Project (KES) for Hawaii Electric Power on Oahu. Plus Power spokesperson Allyson Sand said in an email: “This KES energy storage project with an installed capacity of 185MW is planned to be commercialized in June 2022, which will help promote the development of Hawaii’s last coal-fired power plant. Decommissioning.” This 180MW coal-fired power plant operated by AES on Oahu will be decommissioned in September 2022.

    Innergex, headquartered in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, is developing the Barbers Point and Kahana solar + energy storage projects for the Hawaiian Electric Company. Michel Letellier, President and CEO of Innergex, said in an email, “These two projects will provide power to approximately 18,000 Hawaiian home users, which can increase the state’s energy independence and help reduce users in the long run. Electricity bill."

    The company said these projects are scheduled to be completed in 2023 and are expected to increase Hawaiian Electric's renewable energy portfolio by approximately 9%. The company's renewable energy investment portfolio is expected to reach 30% by the end of this year.

    The state’s renewable energy portfolio standards for public utility companies require 30% of renewable energy to be adopted by the end of this year, 40% by 2030, 70% by 2040, and 100% by 2045.

    In the Barbers Point solar + energy storage project deployed by Innergex on Oahu, the solar power generation facility has an installed capacity of 15 MW, and the battery energy storage system has an energy storage capacity of 60 MWh; and Kahana photovoltaic + storage is deployed on Maui. In the energy project, the installed capacity of the solar power generation facility is 20MW, and the energy storage capacity of the battery energy storage system is 80MWh. According to the company, both projects are scheduled to open in 2023.