Hawaii reaches 100% renewable energy goal with extraordinary solar-plus-storage

Hawaiian Electric Company made a big announcement this week, and it looks like it could reach its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045. Recently, state regulators received seven new solar-plus-storage contracts from Hawaiian Electric Company. Six of the seven deals are priced at historic lows, reaching 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The projects will add 262MW of solar generation and, subject to regulatory approval, 1,048MWh of storage across three islands, and will provide electricity to “alternative to volatile fossil fuel prices” at around 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the company.

Developers working on these projects are AES, Clearway, Innergex and 174 Power Global. These contracts are important for both price and volume.

“It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of this announcement,” said Dan Finn-Foley, senior energy storage analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.

The power purchase agreement contracts (PPAs), once approved by the public utility commission, will provide a major boost to the U.S. electricity storage market, which currently has 14GWh of storage capacity in the U.S. and just 75MWh in Hawaii.

Beaches in Hawaii

Finn-Foley said Hawaiian Electric's project will help nearly double the market in the region.

According to Finn-Foley, “what’s more noteworthy is the price range of the PPAs,” which makes the announcement the most exciting for clean energy analysts.

Previously, in 2016, Hawaii's solar-plus-storage PPAs were priced at 13.9 cents per kilowatt-hour and 11 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2017. Hawaiian Electric announced a 15MW project with 60MWh of storage at 12 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is more expensive than any other project.

However, a recent project combining 90MW of solar and 360MWh of storage was paid an “eye-popping” 8 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to Finn-Foley. This means that between 2016 and 2019, the price of solar-plus-storage PPAs in the state has fallen 42%.

Will Giese, executive director of Hawaii's Solar Energy Association, said the price was "exciting." Finn-Foley added, "At prices like these, it's easy to understand Hawaii's electric providers' confidence that their islands can achieve 100% renewable energy by 2045."

Hawaii is still largely dependent on oil for electricity, but it is paving the way toward its goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Hawaiian Electric President and CEO Alan Oshima said the company made significant progress toward that goal in 2018. “We have very strong momentum as we head into 2019,” Oshima added.

(Original text from: Energy Conservation and Future New Energy Network Comprehensive)