As coal plant closes, major solar farm comes online
Posted on Aug 25, 2022 in Capitol Connection, Featured, Main
The governor, HECO, Clearway and other officials at the Mililani blessing.
Governor Ige, state officials and community stakeholders celebrated the launch of O‘ahu’s first utility-scale solar and battery project from Clearway Energy Group. The 39-megawatt solar project comes online at a time the state is shutting down its last coal plant and will help advance the state’s goal of 100% clean, renewable energy for electricity by 2045. “This project will replace some of that coal energy and will reduce our dependence on oil during the transition,” the governor said.
Governor Ige thanks AES coal plant workers for their service.
Including this project, Clearway will own and operate five solar projects on O‘ahu with the ability to power over 45,000 homes. “These projects will provide power for at least 20 years at fixed prices that are much cheaper than using oil,” the governor added. The 156-megawatt-hour battery storage power plant is designed to provide clean energy to the grid, even after the sun sets. Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Co., said, “Projects like this one help our customers by providing electricity to the grid at one-third the cost of oil.”