Hawaiian Electric receives 75 proposals for renewable energy projects
Hawaiian Electric Companies recently said that they received more than 75 proposals in response to a call for more renewable energy resources.
The proposals are for projects on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island. The total includes proposals on the three islands for grid services from customer-sited resources like private rooftop solar.
The proposals include bids to use solar, wind, energy storage, and several other technologies, and the submissions include more than 200 variations on how the resources could be configured.
Hawaiian Electric’s renewable acquisitions team continues to review the exact number, size, and type of proposed projects.
“We’re really pleased by the strong response, both in the number of projects and the diversity of approaches,” Jim Alberts, senior vice president for business development and strategic planning, said. “Seeing such a robust response from the market is really encouraging. A lot has to fall in place to make this all work, but if we’re successful with these projects and others already underway, we’ll be well past the halfway mark to achieving the state’s 100 percent renewable energy goal.”
The companies issued the request for proposals in August, seeking approximately 900 megawatts of new renewables or renewables paired with storage, as well as 210 MW of grid services.
The companies plan to name the final award groups in May 2020. Pending negotiations and final approvals by the Public Utilities Commission, the first projects would begin operation in 2022.
Requests for proposals for Molokai and Lanai are expected to be issued later this year, with proposals due in early 2020.
