Dive Brief:
- State regulators have approved four solar farms proposed by Hawaiian Electric for the island of Oahu, rejecting one and delaying decision on three others.
- The utility and state are moving quickly to bring more solar capacity online, ahead of the federal production tax credit which expires next year as well as needing to lower electricity prices on the islands..
- HECO also proposed a community solar pilot project last month and announced that rooftop solar was reaching new levels with almost 70,000 applications approved to install or interconnect systems.
Dive Insight:
Hawaii's rush to install solar power continues, with state regulators signing off on four power purchase agreements for utility-scale projects. The PUC said in a statement that development of the projects, for a combined 137.2 MW of new renewable energy, would be "important steps towards achieving the [state's] goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045."
The projects include a 27.6 MW farm under development by EE Waianae Solar Project; 49 MW by Kawailoa Solar; 14.7 MW by Lanikuhana Solar; and 45.9 MW by Waiawa PV.
Regulators said it tapped the projects based on the "best likelihood of providing long term customer value," but also set some limits. To make sure the power purchase agreements balance risks between HECO and customers without subsidization, the PUC said it "declined to approve any additional payments from ratepayers if the projects do not qualify for the federal investment tax credit. The commission also capped the annual amount of "compensable curtailed energy payments" HECO may recover from ratepayers at 1% of the annual contract energy.
According to Pacific Business News, the PUC rejected one project, a 20 MW proposal by SunEdison. The company had changed the configuration of the solar farm.
Three other projects are still pending a decision.
The utility has been rushing to bring more renewable energy online, as Hawaii's electricity is largely produced by expensive imported oil. In October the utility had committed to working through a backlog of about 2,800 pending net netering applications. Since then, howeverm HECO said more than 15,000 applications have been approved to install or interconnect.
In the middle of July, total approved applications to install or interconnect by Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric, and Hawaii Electric Light totaled 69,330.
