Work is wrapping up at the Waikoloa Solar + Storage Project in South Kohala with AES Clean Energy on track to begin next spring full operations producing power for Hawaii Island.
The project, located on 300 acres off Waikoloa Road over a mile above Waikoloa Village, will generate 42.2 MWdc of renewable energy supported by a 120 MWh containerized lithium-ion battery energy storage system. It is currently about 60% complete, with commissioning expected by the end of this year.
When in full operation, which is required by April 2023, the facility’s 100,000 solar modules on 13 pads will produce enough electricity to power 13,600 homes at a cost of 9 cents per kWh through a 25-year power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric. It’s estimated the project will contribute enough electricity to meet 7.1% of the island’s power needs.
On Friday, company officials were joined by state lawmakers, including Big Island Reps. Nicole Lowen (D-North Kona) and David Tarnas (D-North and South Kohala), Public Utilities Commission Chairman Leo Asuncion, and stakeholders for a site tour and informational briefing.
“What we’re doing here in Hawaii really is setting an example for the rest of the country that moving quickly is possible and the technologies that we have, they’re here now, they’re available now, and you can’t keep saying, ‘oh, it’s just impossible.’ It’s obvious it’s possible. We’re proving it here,” said Lowen.
While the Waikoloa project may be the company’s first major one on Hawaii Island, AES has been working with Hawaii to meet the state’s power needs since 1991. Their first project, a coal-fueled plant on Oahu, retires Sept. 1. AES Clean Energy today has solar-plus-storage projects on all for major Hawaiian Islands, with some being the first of their kind and even winning international innovation awards.
“We’ve been here for 30 years in Hawaii and we want to be here for another 100 years,” said Leo Moreno, president of AES Clean Energy, noting the company has local teams managing each project. “We’re proud of the history we have so far and we’re very proud playing a role in this big transition (to renewables). We see ourselves as a partner.”
AES Clean Energy has grown to become the second largest renewable developer in the U.S., according to Moreno. Over the last two years, the company-wide labor force has increased from 300 staffers to 900 staffers.
During construction, the South Kohala project employed around 200 people, through direct hires and as well as via contracts. Once operational, five full-time AES workers will oversee the project.
The Waikoloa Solar + Storage Project, which started about five years ago and broke ground in spring 2021, will meet its 2023 deadline despite encountering a number of setbacks over the past year that even required a redesign when modules had to be sent back to Southeast Asia amid the trade war with China.
“The industry has been battered by a lot of problems in the past year, supply chain and a lot of different difficulties, but we pride ourselves on not having walked away from any of our projects. We have dozens of projects across the U.S. and we will continue with them and we will not walk away,” said Moreno, later adding “we are really honoring our commitments in the way that we have not seen other companies do and you have that commitment that we will do everything here in Hawaii with existing projects and future projects. No matter what happens.”
* This story has been updated to correct the first name of House Rep. David Tarnas.