A contract between Hawaiian Electric Co. and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies to supply biodiesel for Oahu power generators has been approved by Hawaii Regulators.
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission has approved a contract between Hawaiian Electric Co. and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies to supply biodiesel for Oahu power generators.
The two-year contract, which goes into effect in November, is for a minimum of two million and up to three million gallons per year. The renewable fuel is slated for use primarily at the 110-megawatt Campbell Industrial Park generation facility and the Honolulu International Airport Emergency Power Facility. However, it could also be used at other Oahu power plants as needed.
The biofuel will be produced at Pacific Biodiesel’s newest facility, Big Island Biodiesel, which began operations in 2012.
“The new technology installed at Big Island Biodiesel enables us to process the most degraded feedstock into the highest quality biodiesel available in the United States,” said Robert King, president of Pacific Biodiesel.
HECO previously contracted with Iowa’s Renewable Energy Group Inc., which supplied biodiesel from the mainland.
In its ruling, the commission noted that, along with a savings in cost, the locally produced biodiesel should positively contribute to the local economy. Pacific Biodiesel said in a press release Friday that it employs more than 70 people statewide.
Pacific Biodiesel processes used cooking oil from Hawaii’s restaurants into biodiesel and looks to supplement this with locally grown oil crops in the future.