Hawaii’s Renewable Energy Performance

Hawaii’s Renewable Energy Performance

Hawaii’s state population is 1.43 million. There are an average of 200,000 daily visitors, also. Governor David Ige signed the first state law mandating 100% of its electricity will come from renewable energy sources in 2045, 27 years from now. Half of light-duty vehicles plus buses, trucks and harbor cranes will be electric by 2045.

Tri-company or five island electricity for 2017 was 8,690 GWh. Of this, 2,328 GWh or 26.8% was renewable energy.

State renewable energy came 37% from customer-sited and grid-connected solar and wind. Wind was 23% of renewable, Biomass was 16%, Geothermal 14%, Photovoltaic 6%, Biofuels 3%, and Hydro 1%. Wind was 533 GWh, Biomass 381GWh, Geothermal 323 GWh, Solar Voltaic 143 GWh, Biofuels 56 GWh, and Hydro 30 GWh.

More than 74,000 private rooftop solar systems were in use or approved. That includes one-third of customers in single family homes.

Plans are under way for new renewable energy projects by 2022 of 220 MW for Oahu, 100 MW for Maui, and 70 MW for Hawaii Island.

The most developed and populated island or county is Oahu, with Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. It’s population is 953,000. It has 21% renewable energy. The largest contribution is consumer-sited solar of 9%, waste-to-energy is 6%, wind is 3%, and 2% is grid-scale solar. The customer-sited solar is 502 MW. The main energy source or 69% of Hawaiian Electric energy is from oil. Coal is another 20%. Biofuel is 1%. The 3% of wind is from the utility, and 1% of the solar, as well as the waste-to-energy. The consumer-sited-solar is in excess of the utility power.

The island of Hawaii County has a population of 200,000. It’s renewable energy is 57%, with 31% from geothermal, 12% from customer-sited solar (90 MW), 10.5% from wind, 3% from hydro, and 0.4% from grid-scale solar. The disadvantage of its geothermal sources is that the unexpected Kilauea volcano eruption has shut down the Puna Geothermal Ventures (PGV) plant of 38 MW, which contributed about 25% of the County’s energy. This will reduce the renewable portfolio to 37% according to thedailybeast.com. The wells still exist, so the plant may be revived someday.

Maui County has a population of 166,000. This is supplied by the Maui Electric utility which also includes the islands of Molokai and Lanai. Maui Electric gets 79% of its energy from Oil, and 23.5% from Wind. Overall, 34% of Maui County’s energy is renewable. This comes from the 21% wind, 12% customer-sited solar, and 1% grid-scale solar.

The main source of utility power is oil, which can be tanked into the islands, and burned near the ports. The percent of oil generation by utilities is 69% on Oahu, 59% on Hawaii Island, and 79% in Maui County. Oahu also gets 20% of utility energy by coal. CO2 emissions from oil is about midway between old coal plants, and modern natural gas plants. The trade winds blow any smog away. Because of the shipping dependence on oil, Hawaii electricity is the most expensive among the states.

Because the islands are in the tropics, the humidity is high and so are the temperatures. This means a lot of air conditioning energy usage. The key to saving energy here is to do activities in the morning when it is still cool and the water is calm. Then rely on the brisk trade winds in the afternoon to keep cool. When there are not trade winds, air conditioning or fans are necessary. Fans can be used at night when it cools off. Of course, many people work or shop or go to school in buildings which are efficiently air conditioned. At home, you only need air conditioning in rooms that you are occupying.

Clearly, the move to renewable energy will lower energy costs and CO2 pollution. Additionally, home and building design to utilize the trade winds in cooling is useful, such as louvered windows on both sides.  Many South or West facing units have lowerable sun shields.

About Dennis SILVERMAN

I am a retired Professor of Physics and Astronomy at U C Irvine. For two decades I have been active in learning about energy and the environment, and in reporting on those topics for a decade. For the last four years I have added science policy. Lately, I have been reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic of our times.
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