HONOLULU, Dec. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hawaiian
Electric Companies (NYSE:HE) today outlined a detailed
plan charting the near-term actions that will lead to the use of
renewable resources to meet 100 percent of Hawai'i's power
generation needs by 2045.
The Power Supply Improvement Plan Update filed with the Hawai'i
Public Utilities Commission describes the work that will form the
foundation to meet or exceed the state's renewable energy
milestones, which are the most ambitious in the country.
The updated plan describes greater and faster expansion of the
companies' renewable energy portfolio than in the plan filed in
April 2016 and emphasizes work that
is in progress or planned over the next five years on each of the
five islands the Hawaiian Electric Companies serve.
It also stresses the need to remain flexible so that decisions
made today don't crowd out future technological advances in power
generation, distribution and storage.
The companies forecast that they will exceed the state's
renewable energy milestones in 2020 and can exceed the milestones
in 2030 and 2040 by attaining a renewable portfolio standard (RPS)
of:
- 48 percent by the end of 2020; the mandated goal is 30
percent
- At least 72 percent by the end of 2030; the mandated goal is 40
percent
- At least 100 percent by the end of 2040; the mandated goal is
70 percent. This would be five years ahead of the 2045 deadline to
reach the goal of 100 percent renewable energy.
The plan estimates that the RPS after 2030 could exceed 100
percent when taking into account customers' generation of
electricity for their own use as well as the anticipated widespread
use of battery storage.
In the near-term, using a proposed mix of solar, wind, battery
storage and biofuels, the plan aims to achieve an RPS of 100
percent on Moloka'i by 2020.
By 2020, Hawai'i Island is forecast to reach an RPS of 80
percent, Maui 63 percent, Lānaʻi
59 percent and O'ahu 40 percent.
The plan includes the continued growth of private rooftop solar
and describes the work to expand and upgrade grid infrastructure
and to use the newest generations of inverters, control systems and
energy storage to help reliably integrate an estimated total of
165,000 private systems by 2030, more than double today's total of
79,000. Hawaiian Electric already has the highest percentage of
customers using rooftop solar of any utility in the U.S. and
customer-sited storage is seen as a key contributor to the growth
of the renewable portfolio on every island.
In addition, the plan forecasts the addition of
360 megawatts of grid‑scale solar, 157 megawatts of
grid‑scale wind and 115 megawatts from programs known as
Demand Response, which can shift customer use of electricity to
times when more renewable energy is available, potentially making
room to add even more renewable resources.
"The energy transformation must include everyone" is one of
seven principles that the Hawaiian Electric Companies developed to
broadly help define the mission of the power supply improvement
plan. The need to balance the pursuit of renewable energy with
price stability and affordability for customers is described
throughout the plan. Investments in grid infrastructure, as well as
rising oil prices, are expected to increase the typical residential
bill over the next several years, with gradually declining bills
forecast to start in the mid-2020s.
A change from the document filed in April is that this update
does not include the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to generate
power in the near-term. While LNG remains a potential lower-cost
bridge fuel to be evaluated, the companies' priority is to continue
replacing fossil fuel generation with renewables over the next five
years as federal tax incentives for renewables begin to phase
out.
An interisland cable is not in the near-term plan, which states
that its costs and benefits should continue to be evaluated.
The plan also provides a solid foundation for the
electrification of transportation, reducing the use of fossil fuels
for ground transportation. For example, charging electric vehicles
during the day when renewable energy is abundant could create an
additional demand for renewables.
The Hawaiian Electric Companies are exploring additional actions
and resources beyond those described in the plan. For example,
working with land owners and developers, planners are exploring
pumped storage hydropower, run-of-the-river hydropower, hydrogen
and wave energy as potential additions. As part of this ongoing
exploration, the companies recently issued a Request for
Information to land owners who may be interested in teaming with a
developer to host a renewable energy project.
"We have a solid plan that accelerates our progress to get to
100 percent renewable energy. We can do this," said Alan Oshima, Hawaiian Electric president and
CEO. "We want to work with parties from all segments of our
community -- government, business, community, and environmental
groups – to refine the plans for Hawai'i's energy future."
The companies followed an open, collaborative process to develop
these plans, participating in multiple stakeholder workshops and
technical conferences to share information and ideas. Planners ran
and analyzed multiple scenarios to balance the desires for
reliability, affordability and sustainability.
Among the stakeholders who provided input into the plan are the
state Consumer Advocate; Ulupono Initiative; Blue Planet
Foundation; Hawai'i Gas; Paniolo Power on Hawai'i Island and the
state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Additional independent technical analysis was provided by the
U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and the Electric Power Research
Institute.
CONTACT:
|
Jim Kelly,
808.341.8926
|
|
Jim.Kelly@hawaiianelectric.com
|
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hawaiian-electric-companies-submit-updated-energy-plans-300383521.html
SOURCE Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.