Maui Electric Co. Ltd. is asking the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to approve the company's draft requests for proposals for renewable energy projects backed by storage at preselected sites on the islands of Molokai and Lanai.
The Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. subsidiary wants developers to build solar generation paired with energy storage on Lanai and solar or wind with storage on Molokai. The wind alternative for Molokai would be for small turbines of 100-kW or less, according to that request for proposals, or RFP. No wind project would be allowed on Lanai due to opposition to visible turbines of any size.
The company said the energy storage component must be of sufficient size to support the associated renewable energy facility's allowed capacity for a minimum of four continuous hours.
No specific generating capacity figures for the projects were set, but on Molokai the renewable energy output target associated with the RFP is 8,500 MWh annually. That would fulfill 84% of the island's needs and leave room for rooftop and community solar, according to the transmittal letter accompanying the draft RFPs.
For Lanai, the proposals will have to include four different size variations to account for the possible replacement or reduction in usage of an existing combined heat and power facility and an existing photovoltaic and storage project on the island. The four variations range from 13,300 MWh to 20,800 MWh annually.
The proposed RFPs are in keeping with Hawaii's plans to seek more renewable energy and storage to replace coal and oil plant closures and advance toward the state's 100% renewable electricity by 2045 renewable portfolio standard as required by law.
The draft RFPs were submitted as required by the commission's June 10 order supporting the commitment of Hawaiian Electric Industries' three utility subsidiaries, collectively known as the Hawaiian Electric Companies, or HECO, to filing the proposals. Those three utility subsidiaries — Maui Electric, Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. and Hawaii Electric Light Co. Inc. — together serve 95% of the Hawaiian islands.
The Lanai and Molokai proposals are small compared to HECO's plan to procure for the other islands. The commission on Aug. 15 approved HECO's RFPs for renewable energy and storage for the islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii, albeit with some modifications.
Separate RFPs must be issued for the individual Hawaiian islands because each has its own unique grid, as well as differences in land ownership, customer base and community needs, and therefore presents its own challenges, according to a letter from HECO to the commission accompanying the RFPs.
The differences in the draft RFPs for Molokai and Lanai include sites offered for generation, limiting utility self-build proposals and other matters.
Maui Electric is proposing to offer one sealed self-build proposal for each island that would be opened only if adequate third-party proposals are not received. That way, the proposals tendered in response to the RFPs will not have to directly compete with the company's own proposals.
The utility is offering a company-owned site next to a switchyard on Molokai for use at no cost.
On Lanai, a land and resource management company called Pulama Lanai owns the entire island, the sixth largest in the Hawaiian chain, and is offering to lease a site for renewable energy development. Projects must be proposed for that site, which has a good solar exposure and is next to a switchyard, Maui Electric said.
The utility plans to complete studies, such as soil samples, in advance of issuing final RFPs for both islands.
