Hawaiian Electric Agree to buy power from Kawailoa Solar

Hawaiian Electric agree to reach on a PPA with NRG Energy to buy electricity generated by the Kawailoa Solar facility located on north shore of O’ahu.

Kawailoa Solar will be located on Kamehameha Schools-owned land. After completion, the 49 MW Kawailoa Solar array will be the state’s largest solar facility, providing electricity at 10.99 cents per kWh, assuming application of the estimated Hawai‘i state tax credit. The agreement must now be approved by the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission.

Hawaiian Electric filed PPAs for the 14.7-MW Lanikuhana Solar and 45.9-MW Waipio Solar facilities for regulatory approval. The Lanikuhana, Waipio and Kawailoa projects, to be built and owned by NRG, are targeted to come online in 2019. The three projects will total nearly 110 MW of solar generation and increase Hawaiian Electric’s renewable output on O’ahu by 3 percentage points.

Hawaiian Electric president and CEO, Alan Oshima said that reaching this agreement on Kawailoa Solar is another big step in their renewable energy plans for O‘ahu. Their goal is always to bring better value to their customers, who will now get the benefits of lower prices for clean, renewable energy over the life of their contracts.

NRG Renewables president, Craig Cornelius said that partnering with Hawaiian Electric on Lanikuhana, Waipio and Kawailoa is a proud moment for their company. They’re looking forward to moving ahead with construction and bringing the projects online as soon as possible.