Renewable energy achieved 32 percent of total Hawaiian Electric generation by end of 2022

After a formula change to the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) last year, Hawaiian Electric officially achieved a total of 32 percent electricity generation from renewable energy sources across Oahu, Hawaii Island, and Maui County.

In 2022, the marker for the RPS changed from tracking renewable energy’s percentage of electricity sold – which would have been 39 percent in 2022 – to its percentage of generation. The formulaic change was required under a new state law to improve accuracy in measurements of renewable energy, with an eye toward achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.

With the shift in focus, the Hawaiian Electric RPS did not increase last year. Part of the risk in the previous system was that rooftop solar production might have been double counted.

“We’re still on track to meet the next RPS milestone of 40 percent by 2030, even with the new method of calculation,” Jim Kelly, a Hawaiian Electric spokesperson, said. “With the help of our customers, who now have nearly 100,000 rooftop systems online, and large utility-scale projects on the grid, we’re making tremendous progress, more than tripling the amount of renewables on our system since 2010.”
Renewable RPS varied significantly, island to island. Oahu is only at 28 percent, for example, but the systems on Hawaii Island reached 48 percent and Maui County reached 36 percent. Grid-scale solar generation increased over the year and customer-deployed resources – such as rooftop solar – achieved 40 MW of generation last year.

While the islands now include a mix of solar, geothermal, biomass, hydro, wind, and biofuel sources, and they did see an increase in energy in 2022, they were counterbalanced by higher overall electricity demand and generation. Notably, wind production also fell 11 percent compared to 2021.