Efforts to mitigate flooding in Hawaii and further harness the power of the sun, wind, water and earth to create sustainable energy alternatives to imported oil will receive more than $29 million, Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye announced Thursday.
Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), today announced it has acquired Auwahi Wind Energy LLC, a company developing a 22-megawatt (MW) wind energy and battery storage project in Maui, Hawaii, from Shell WindEnergy Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell.
The proposed Auwahi Wind Energy project could begin construction in 2011 and commence commercial operations in 2012 on the Ulapalakua Ranch in the remote southeastern region of Maui.
A 4-square-mile patch of Maui in the nation’s most fossil-fuel dependent state soon will be home to a new kind of power grid, one that saves energy by turning off household appliances when electricity is expensive and makes better use of wind and solar power.
General Electric Co. recently announced it would test its “smart grid” technology in the luxury resort community of Wailea, hoping to reduce peak electricity consumption there by 15 percent by 2012.
You’re inverted to attend!
“Cutting The Red Tape On Electric Vehicles In Hawaii”
When: August 20th at 12 noon
Where: The Banyan Tree House 3265 Baldwin Ave Makawao Maui Hawaii click here for Google’s map.
What: Members from the community, government and local utility will join together with manufacturers and local contractors in support of the Electric Transportation Revolution in Hawaii.
Presented at this event:
1. “The Current” Electric City Motors 4 door hatchback All Electric Vehicle, Full Highway Speed, affordable and available for deliver now! Test drives by appointment.
2. “Zero Motorcycles” engineer of high-performance electric motorcycle that would change the face of the industry,” founder Neal Saikai said. The Zero S is a high-performance motorcycle that also happens to be fully electric and green. Test drives by appointment.
3. “Windspire” Mariah Power’s wind turbine, a quiet, safe and affordable vertical access wind turbine that is permitted in residential
areas.
4. “My Charge Point” EV charging stations by Coulomb Technologies paving the way for the EV application in Hawaii
5. “HIEV”, an Electric Vehicle and EV Charging Infrastructure company offering Electric Vehicles, EV Charging Stations, Wind and Solar Power to assist the EV Charging Infrastructure.
6. “Seabury Hall School” Electric Vehicle conversions performed by students each year as part of the Engineering Class.
7. “Maui Electric Company” local utility implementing wind and solar to support the EV charging infrastructure and application of EV fleet.
8. EV owners from Maui’s community with EV’s available for show and tell
Agenda:
9 AM Volunteers and exhibitors setup for event
11 AM Cut off for exhibitor setup
11;30 AM Opening public access to event, healthy pot luck & refreshments
12 PM Blessings & opening statements
12:30 PM “Cutting The Red Tape” ceremony
1 PM Mixer, show and tell, Q&A
2 PM Event close, Thank you for attending!
We need volunteers to help run the event, donations or sponsorship is welcome.
If you wish to participate or attend please RSVP so we can be sure to have room and a time slot for you.
Let us know how you would like to be involved and include your full contact information with your reply
Exhibiters and event guest speakers will park inside and must arrive before 11 AM, public and event visitors will park on Baldwin Ave. and walk in to the event
If you require ADA assistance please let us know so we can be sure to assist.
Feel free to forward this announcement to others.
Aloha and thank you for letting us be of service!
The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism has unveiled a Web site at www.hawaiicleanenergyinitiative.org, where residents and businesses are being encouraged to go for information about the role they can play to thelp Hawaii reduce its dependence on imported oil.
Visitors to the site will be able to subscribe to the Hawaii Powered News, a free, quarterly e-newsletter that will keep the public informed about the latest news on the state’s clean-energy efforts.
Mark your calendars for the upcoming Maui County Energy Expo, September 10 – 11.
Highlights of this year’s Expo include:
- Presentations by the Maui County Energy Alliance Working Groups
- Outstanding speakers, panel discussions and presentations
- The full program is available on the High Tech Maui web site, and online registration is also available there.
- Exhibits featuring state-of-the-art products and technologies
- Optional pre-conference activities available
A full program and online registration is available on the High Tech Maui web site.
A couple of news items to report this weekend relating to Hawaii clean energy.
The South Maui Sustainability blog has a nice article about Chris Mentzel’s Clean Energy Maui and proposed Feed-in Tariff Law.
The Honolulu Advertiser reports this morning on the launch of a new Hawaii residential solar energy company, Revolusun. According to Todd Georgopapadakos, founding partner with D/E/P and RevoluSun,
Through our process of marketing, design, and financing know-how, and through our network of licensed contractors to handle a heavy installation demand, RevoluSun will provide Hawaii homeowners a clear understanding of their options, and a smooth, stress-free road to obtaining a PV system.
A New Mexico-based energy technology company has chosen Molokai for one of four sites on which it plans to build what it calls the world’s first utility-scale, zero-emissions hydrogen power plants.
The Molokai plant, proposed by Jetstream Wind Inc., would use electricity from wind or solar or a combination of the two to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen would then be burned in a turbine – similar to what is used in a natural-gas-fired power plant – and would generate enough electricity to power 6,000 homes and businesses, the company said.
Hawaii’s clean energy initiative seems to be getting some good press recently. A recent article in RenewableEnergyWorld.com, spotlighted Hawaii as a leader in renewable energy.
Article author, Matthew I. Slavin, Ph.D. points out that Hawaii depends upon the burning of imported oil to generate over 80 percent of its electricity supply. The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative calls for Hawaii to derive 70 percent of its power from energy efficiency and renewable energy by 2030.
According to Slavin:
Headway is being made on the energy efficiency front. Utility rate decoupling is ready to go into effect and a proposal before the state Public Utilities Commission will institute time-of-day pricing. Increasing efficiency through conservation is expected to meet 30 percent of the initiative’s 70 percent clean energy goal.
Renewable energy will account for the other 40 percent — double what was called for under Hawaii’s previous renewable energy portfolio standard and twice what California has targeted. A huge step in this direction will occur in 2010, when all newly constructed homes in Hawaii will be required to have rooftop thermal solar panels installed. If the state were to take this to the next level, it would consider requiring existing homes to install thermal solar panels at time of resale, since preexisting homes will continue to account for the overwhelming majority of the islands’ building stock for many years to come.
Hawaii is doing the right things, and should continue to broaden and deepen its clean energy efforts. Doing so can help ensure that as the tide of global warming washes ashore, Hawaii is positioned to have its boat lifted and become the most energy independent state in the nation.
GE-led technology rollout will show what future Smart Grid looks like, help Hawaii integrate more renewable energy and manage peak circuit loads
GE is working with the Maui Electric Company to utilize distributed energy resources to help manage grid operations on the island of Maui. In partnership with the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), Maui Electric Company (MECO), the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) of the University of Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Energy, GE has formally launched the Maui Smart Grid project which will develop and demonstrate the use of smart grid technologies to help MECO control peak circuit demand, maintain adequate circuit voltage levels, and integrate intermittent renewable energy resources.
“While wind power has been around for some time, relying on a high percentage of wind for day-to-day power generation has been impossible. Wind availability is too unpredictable and uncontrollable,” said Juan de Bedout, global technology leader for power conversion systems at GE Global Research. “The Maui Smart Grid Project will develop grid communications and controls that will assist MECO in the coordination of distributed resources, such as distributed generation, energy storage, voltage controls and residential loads, to help integrate unprecedented levels of wind and solar power into the island’s power grid.”
GE’s Smart Grid management tools will include advanced communications, automation and control technologies and possibly an energy storage system. The management system will control and dispatch several types of power system equipment, customer loads, and energy storage to compensate for sudden changes in wind power and circuit loads.
“Hawaii has phenomenal wind and solar energy potential, so incorporating higher percentages of renewable power makes perfect sense,” said Bob Gilligan, vice president of GE Energy’s transmission and distribution business. “GE Energy’s smart grid technologies will help MECO reliably manage and integrate these renewable energy sources, while increasing the grid’s energy productivity and efficiency.”
“We are strongly committed to meeting our state’s clean energy goals,” said Ed Reinhardt, president of Maui Electric Company. “As we move toward using more renewable energy, balancing system reliability and power quality is a top priority at MECO. Partnering with companies such as GE, that are committed to updating our grid infrastructure, is critical to developing the technology solutions to get us there.”
The island of Maui already meets the definition of high-penetration renewable power. With a peak load of around 200 MW on the island, up to 30 MW can come from wind energy. Right now Maui receives nearly 10% of its energy from wind, with plans to add even more wind-powered generation energy in the future. Even at just 10%, issues with grid reliability can arise due to minute-to-minute wind fluctuations. This project’s smart grid technologies will help integrate more renewable energy into Maui’s power system.
