Abstract
The conceptualization of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative strategy for power generation took place in the context of a number of renewable energy studies and resource assessments that had been undertaken over several years. These piecemeal studies needed to be updated in the light of current resource information and technology and put into the comprehensive policy framework. Out of this reassessment emerged a series of implementation strategies which emphasized particular renewable resources including big wind, geothermal, residential PV's, and biofuels. In addition, as a result of new (hydraulic fracturing) technology for extraction of natural gas on the US mainland, the importation of Liquid Natural Gas attracted considerable interest from politicians and planners.
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Notes
- 1.
The major difference between Scenarios 7 and 8 was the inclusion in Scenario 8 of a marine transmission link between Maui county and Oahu.
- 2.
Break even oil prices used in the analysis were $65–$85/barrel range.
- 3.
Capacity factor is the percentage of actual output compared to the theoretical amount if the wind farm operated at full capacity for 24 hours per day and 7 days a week.
- 4.
The estimate was based on the $130/barrel fuel oil price which prevailed in early 2012.
- 5.
The 7000 acres retained by C&C are not adequate to develop the full 400 MW project solely on Lanai Island. DBEDT estimates that, “A wind farm of up to 400-MW capacity may encompass an area of more than 15,000 acres to allow for terrain, turbine spacing, access, etc.”
- 6.
This cultural opposition was sufficiently strong that Governor Lingle opposed analysis of geothermal development in the original HCEI documents.
- 7.
The subsequent Navigant study significantly reduced this capital cost estimate to $655 million (see discussion of Navigant study).
- 8.
No HDWC estimates of cable costs from the Hawaii Island to Oahu are publicly available. However, in a presentation to the HEPF in early July 2012, Mr. Mike Bahrman of the Swiss engineering firm ABB suggested that because of the greater depth (the Hawaii Island cable would be 1300 feet deeper than the deepest cable in the world) and longer distance, an Hawaii Island to Oahu link would at least double the cost of the Lanai to Oahu cable.
- 9.
This sum is more than double the current estimated cost of the marine cable for connecting Maui and Honolulu counties.
- 10.
A more detailed discussion of the interaction of the EPA regulations and HCEI can be found in Chap. 7 on environmental issues.
- 11.
Diesel produced by the local refineries could not meet the new EPA specifications. The oil refiners were cautious about making any new investment in Hawaii which they considered to be a marginal market that would ultimately shrink, due to the state’s HCEI strategy.
- 12.
When the Puerto Rico project came online LNG would replace all oil fired generating capacity on the island and provide fuel for 1500 MW of power.
- 13.
Under the Jones Act, cargo moving from one American port to another American port must be transported in American built and registered ships that employ American crews.
- 14.
HG is owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Company, a large Australian energy conglomerate that primarily buys and sells natural gas and electric power on the wholesale market, and provides storage, transportation, hedging, and asset management services.
- 15.
The 400 MW proposal presumably would be based on shipload imports rather than on the container load proposal.
- 16.
It is important to remember that even the subsidized resource costs used in HECO’s IRP were criticized by the PUC for underestimating costs and ratepayer impacts.
- 17.
In Hawaii’s case, these foregone services include large, state-level health and education expenditure programs.
- 18.
The state Council on Revenues reported that the cost of the PV incentive program had grown from $34.7 million in 2010 to nearly $174 million 2 years later. In response to the alarming cost of PV subsidies, the 2013 legislature limited the amount of the individual PV subsidy to a maximum $10,000 per tax payer.
- 19.
In the case of Jatropha, several environmental organizations expressed concerns that the plant might be difficult to control and could become an alien threat/competitor to indigenous trees and other flora.
- 20.
Behind this local concern there may have been much more significant fears that successful palm oil substitution at HECO could lead other electric utilities to consider the palm oil fuel option.
- 21.
While the sustainability policy clearly increased costs, the initial contracts also were subject to other influences. For example, HECO lacked procurement experience with overseas suppliers and was unaccustomed to dealing with international commodity markets. It is also possible that the competitive bidding procedures required by the PUC were not well suited to securing the best long-term agricultural prices.
References
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Pintz, W.S., Morita, H. (2017). Connecting the Dots—Early Implementation of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative HCEI Electricity Goals. In: Clean Energy from the Earth, Wind and Sun. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48677-2_5
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