Puako Solar, a planned 60-megawatt solar-plus-storage project on Hawaii Island at one time scheduled to come online in 2023, has been scrapped due to its developer citing elevated costs and supply chain issues and pulling out from its arrangement with Hawaiian Electric Co.
HECO called the abandonment of one of its 16 solar-plus-storage projects approved in summer 2020 "disappointing."
ENGIE, a French utility company, notified HECO late last month, according to a news release from New Horizons Ahead, or NHOA, which was to supply the battery storage for the 240 megawatt-hour project.
ENGIE cited "elevated interconnection costs, global supply chain and production issues, and tariffs and trade disputes regarding the photovoltaic solar industry," according to the energy news bulletin Power Daily.
Puako, according to a HECO map of future projects in its latest sustainability report, was to be located near the northwestern shore of the island.
"It’s obviously disappointing when projects like Puako Solar drop out, but there are many other projects moving toward completion," Hawaii Island-based HECO spokesperson Kristen Okinaka told Pacific Business News. "On Hawaii Island, we recently launched another procurement effort for renewable energy projects and anticipate strong interest. ... Some other developers have said supply chain issues may cause delays in completing projects, but none have canceled."
Okinaka pointed to HECO's status board for other projects in progress.
On it, four projects — including one on Hawaii Island — await regulatory approval, and 15 others have been approved with estimated completion in 2022 or 2023. Two of those, AES Waikoloa Solar and Hale Kuawehi Solar, are on Hawaii Island.
Meanwhile, also in late October, AES Corp. filed for force majeure for three solar-plus-store projects in the works with HECO — AES Waikoloa Solar as well as AES Kuihelani Solar on Maui and AES West Oahu Solar. The three projects total 102.5 megawatts and 410 megawatt-hours.
AES Corp. declined to comment on the status of the projects.
"AES Energy is not canceling its three stage 1 projects – they’re all moving forward. The force majeure was filed due to a possible delay," HECO spokesperson Shannon Tangonan told PBN. "Force majeure essentially gives notice that events out of the developer’s control may impact the project."
In its notice of force majeure, AES described the issue as U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopping "certain deliveries of solar modules from [AES'] equipment supplier" under a Withhold Release Order.
HECO lists AES Kuilelani's estimated completion date as October 2023; AES Waikoloa as November 2022; and AES West Oahu as Sept. 2022.
