Hawaiian Electric requests proposals for up to 700 MW of renewable energy on Oahu

Pushing to meet its state’s clean energy goals, Hawaiian Electric filed a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) last week, calling to those with firm renewable energy possibilities on Oahu of between 500-700 MW.

Firm renewable energy means that solar and wind resources, though renewable, are not applicable. Those are intermittent resources, and Hawaiian seeks energy that is available at all times, save when maintenance is required. Rather, technologies such as geothermal, waste-to-energy, green hydrogen, biomass, and others like them are what shall be considered.

“This is an important step toward reaching the stateʻs renewable energy goals,” Rebecca Dayhuff Matsushima, Hawaiian Electric vice president of resource procurement, said. “While solar and wind energy resources will help us hit our near-term clean energy milestones, we’ll also need firm renewable resources available for customers when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing.”

Nor is this the only caveat tacked onto the request: for the first time, Hawaiian Electric will also require proposals to include a community benefits package obligating developers to provide funding for a not-yet-chosen nonprofit annually. This was tacked on in response to community input.

Given the pilot nature of such a request though, Hawaiian Electric is also seeking feedback from communities and other stakeholders that could refine such requirements in the future. For this request, though, area community organizers would be able to apply for grants from the to-be-determined nonprofit for projects that would benefit the host community.

Parallel to these efforts, Hawaiian Electric will also accept proposals from existing firm generation projects for new terms to be applied after they convert to renewable fuels. It intends to file its final RFP on the subject around May 31, 2022, and then have all proposals submitted to it by the end of September.