Moving toward 100% renewables one project at a time

by Shannon Tangonan | Dec. 3, 2019

The 80,760-panel solar facility, built by REC Solar, will feed energy into the island’s electric grid and serve all customers on Oahu, including those on base.

Last week I took a five-minute drive from my home to Hawaiian Electric’s new West Loch Solar Project. Just off Iroquois Road in Ewa Beach, the 20-megawatt solar array sits on 102 acres of the U.S. Navy’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam West Loch Annex.

A ceremonial blessing took place to usher in our first grid-scale solar project.

I was fortunate to attend a dedication ceremony and Hawaiian blessing to usher in the first grid-scale solar project owned and operated by Hawaiian Electric.

You might be wondering why this is a big deal — it’s just another solar project. But there’s a lot to be excited about. For starters, West Loch Solar is now producing the lowest-cost renewable energy to date in the state at an estimated 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Here are some other reasons why this project is important:

• The 80,760-panel solar facility, built by REC Solar, will feed energy into the island’s electric grid and serve all customers on Oahu, including those on base.
• The project will save Hawaiian Electric customers at least $109 million over its expected 25-year lifespan. It will also reduce the utility’s use of imported oil by 3 million gallons annually.
• And it’s a win for the Navy as well. In exchange for the land to host the facility, the utility plans to provide electrical infrastructure upgrades to Navy-owned facilities.

“Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is the key strategic installation for our interests in the Pacific,” said Rear Adm. Robb Chadwick, commander, Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific. “We are pleased to be able to increase our base’s energy resiliency while also helping Hawaiian Electric strengthen the state’s electric grid. Innovative, long-term energy solutions like this mutually enhances the Navy’s readiness and the strength of our local communities.”

Hawaii will be a leading example to the world in achieving 100 percent renewables.

While the ceremony focused on the actual project and the partnership between Hawaiian Electric and the Navy, it’s just a facet of the bigger renewable energy picture. The fact is that other states and countries look to the Hawaiian Electric Companies and the state of Hawaii as leaders as we pursue 100 percent renewables by 2045.

Perhaps U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz summed it up best as he addressed the guests who sat under a tent beside a sea of solar panels in the Ewa Plains: “In 1999 and 2000…(we) said Hawaii is going to be an example for the world,” Schatz said. “We weren’t really sure that was true, but we sure hoped it would be. Because of projects like this and because of the Clean Energy Initiative …everybody in the state of Hawaii charging forward on this…we really are setting an example for across the planet.

“What was an aspiration to be an example for the world, not just to take care of ourselves, but to show how it should be done, is really reality.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Watch the event:

Shannon Tangonan is a manager of external corporate communications at Hawaiian Electric Company.