HECO successfully burns biofuel at Kahe power plant
Hawaiian Electric Company announced on Jan. 28 that it has successfully used 100 percent renewable biofuel to fire a petroleum oil-fired steam turbine generator. The tests found that using biofuel reduced opacity (visibility of emissions) and emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) compared to using low sulfur fuel oil.
“We believe this is the first time a utility-scale steam unit has fired on 100% biofuel at 100% capacity,” said Robbie Alm, Hawaiian Electric executive vice president. “This successful test confirms that biofuels – locally grown to the greatest extent possible – can be an important part of Hawaii’s clean energy future, along with energy from the sun, wind, ocean, waste-to-energy, hydro and geothermal.
In addition, on Jan. 6 HECO signed a contract for a local company, Aina Koa Pono, to provide sustainable, locally grown and processed biofuel for electric generation in Hawaii. With planned operations in the Ka’u region of the Hawaii Island, the project will initially supply biofuel to Keahole Power Plant on that land.
“This is the first contract awarded as a result of our call in April 2010 for locally grown and processed biofuels to be used in our power plants on Hawaii Island, Oahu and in Maui County,” Alm said. “The team at Aina Koa Pono submitted an excellent proposal and was prepared to negotiate with the best interests of the State and Hawaii Island at heart.”
Alm said the contract is an important step in reaching Hawaii’s clean energy goal of 70 percent of electricity and transportation energy from clean sources by 2030. The project complements Hawaiian Electric’s plans for adding significant amounts of renewable energy from other sources, including solar, wind, garbage-to-energy, biomass, geothermal, ocean and others. Under the AKP contract, the utility will:
- Buy a significant quantity of local biofuels for generating units to increase energy independence, spend energy dollars locally and reduce vulnerability to volatile oil prices.
- Signal to landowners and agricultural interests that Hawaiian Electric companies are committed to using local fuels and are signing contracts that create a workable business model for agricultural energy crops to emerge in Hawaii.
- Because liquid fuels are transportable, create a renewable fuel supply for firm power that can be used anywhere in Hawaii.
Aina Koa Pono plans to build a biofuels processing facility on the Big Island at a cost of $320 million. The project is expected to create approximately 300 jobs during the construction phase and then 150 jobs for the length of its 20-year contract with Hawaiian Electric. Jobs at the facility will include chemists and IT professionals as well as local farmers.
> In related news, Hawaii now has its first network of commercial charging stations for Nissan Leaf electric cars. American Electric Co. LLC has installed the charging stations at Hawaii Nissan dealerships and is also able to perform residential installations of the charging stations. The first Nissan electric cars were tentatively scheduled to arrive in Hawaii by the end of January.
