Hawaii energy storage project

What is the Kapolei energy storage project?

The Kapolei Energy Storage project is a utility-scale battery farm with a storage capacity of 565 megawatt-hours of electricity, making it the largest storage project in Hawaiʻi. It officially went online before the holidays after several delays.

Will a storage battery help Hawaiian Electric deal with over-generation?

A storage battery project has not yet proven its effectiveness at scale, according to Bob Rudd, the chief commercial officer at Plus Power. The battery's capacity will help address the issue of clean energy curtailment, also known as over-generation, for Hawaiian Electric, Rudd said.

Will Oahu's new power plant help solve 'over-generation' problem?

The new power plant in Kapolei, Hawaiʻi, will help Hawaiian Electric deal with the problem of clean energy curtailment, also known as over-generation, Rudd said. When Oʻahu produces too much power with no way to store it, some of it has to be 'curtailed'.

Will Hawaiian Electric's new battery plant save customers money?

According to Hawaiian Electric, the project will save customers money. The Hawaiian Electric filing for KES estimated it will reduce electric bills by an average of $0.28 per month over a 20-year contract life. The battery plant's specifications include:

Why does Hawaiian Electric need to 'curtail' solar power?

Solar power from individual consumers has become so abundant that Hawaiian Electric must regularly ‘curtail’ or turn off large volumes of existing utility scale solar and wind in order to keep the electric system in balance.

Did Kapolei energy storage teletype machine sprang into life?

Late in the day on January 11, the teletype machine in the basement of CleanTechnica world headquarters sprang into life to bring us a statement from a spokesperson for Plus Power. “News reports that the new Kapolei Energy Storage project was less than fully charged on Monday evening before the rolling outages are incorrect.