At a time when big proposed renewable energy projects frequently stir resentment from neighbors, a new proposal seems to tick off none of the boxes that tick people off.
Plus Power’s Kapolei Energy Storage project, which was selected by Hawaiian Electric as part of a massive request for proposals, involves no big wind turbines, no massive solar farms taking up space and no residential neighbors.
Instead, as Power Plus described in a news release on Tuesday, it’s a collection of lithium-ion batteries on roughly 8 acres of land in the Kapolei Harborside industrial project near a Hawaiian Electric substation. The projected completion, in June 2022, can help ensure that AES’s coal plant can end operations in September 2022, as scheduled.
“Plus Power is honored and excited to work with Hawaiian Electric to implement this ground-breaking project,” said Bob Rudd, Lead Developer at Plus Power. “At 185 MW/565 MWh, the KES project will provide the scale necessary to transition away from coal and to accelerate Hawaii’s path toward 100 percent renewable energy.”
Construction is expected to start in summer 2021, subject to approval from state utility regulators.
Figuring out how to replace AES’s coal-burning plant, which provides about a fifth of Oahu’s electricity, was a central part of a request for proposals that resulted in the company choosing more than a dozen projects. The company earlier this month announced it had selected 16 winners but declined to identify the projects or their locations.
Plus Power on Tuesday unveiled itself as one of the winning bidders and released the project’s details.
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