Hawaiian Electric announced Thursday it is proposing to replace six fossil fuel-powered generators at its 85-year-old Waiau Power Plant in Pearl City with fuel-flexible units that can provide reliable, firm generation. The proposal is now awaiting approval from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, according to the announcement.
The proposed units can run on multiple fuel sources, and are designed to respond quickly to changing needs on the grid, "filling the gap when variable resources like solar and wind aren't available," as stated in the announcement. The units can also run cleaner, quieter, more efficiently, and operate less frequently than the existing units, according to Hawaiian Electric.
The Waiau proposal was submitted in April in response to a procurement issued by Hawaiian Electric and overseen by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, which will ultimately decide whether the project is approved. All proposals will be evaluated on price, technology, community benefits and other factors, according to the announcement. The final awards are expected to be announced in October. Specific details on technology, size, cost, and bill impacts will not be available until after the announcement because this is a "competitive procurement," according to Hawaiian Electric.
“This proposed project represents the most impactful transformation of our generation infrastructure in decades and supports the critical need for reliable, 24/7 power that is much more efficient and aligned with our renewable future than the technology it replaces,” Mike DeCaprio, vice president of power supply for Hawaiian Electric, said in a statement. “Some of these oil-fired boilers were built just after World War II and while they’ve served us reliably for decades, they don’t have the flexibility and fast-start capability we need with our expanding portfolio of solar and wind resources.”
The electricity provider's Waiau Units 3 and 4, built in 1947 and 1950, are scheduled to be decommissioned and removed over the next few years. Four additional units built between 1959 and 1968 will be decommissioned and removed in phases through the end of the decade, according to Hawaiian Electric.
The project will require an Environmental Impact Statement and other permits, but no new land acquisition processes or zoning changes will be needed, according to the announcement.
