Clearway Energy recently pulled the plug on plans for three major solar farms, but Hawaiian Electric still has several other projects in the works.
Two other developers, Longroad Energy and Ameresco, told HPR that their projects are on track. They are separately negotiating with the utility on several renewable facilities, one of which is Puʻuloa Energy, a 99 MW biofuel plant that Ameresco plans to build on Navy land at Pearl Harbor.
Nicole Bulgarino, Ameresco's executive vice president said that the plant is designed to run on a variety of available fuels and could potentially be retooled to use hydrogen fuel in the future. It will provide the grid with firm power, meaning that it can produce power regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.
"So we can kind of ramp up or down to complement what other solar systems or wind resources may come online," Bulgarino said.
Puʻuloa Energy will be paired with a microgrid to help keep Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam up and running in the event of a broader power outage.
The Puʻuloa Microgrid is part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy.
