AES Distributed Energy, a unit of AES Corp., and Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) announced Jan. 10 the execution of a power purchase agreement for a plant that will provide solar energy together with the benefits of battery-based energy storage for optimal balancing of generation with peak demand.
The project consists of 28 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) and a 20 MW five-hour duration energy storage system. The system will be located on former sugar cane land between Lāwaʻi and Kōloa on Kauaʻi’s south shore. It will be the largest solar-plus-utility-scale-battery system in the state of Hawaii.
“We are honored that KIUC has selected AES to help meet their peak demand with a flexible and reliable renewable energy solution,” said Woody Rubin, president of AES Distributed Energy. “We are excited to be able to leverage AES’ energy storage platform, and 20 plus-year history in Hawai’i to help KIUC modernize the grid and provide additional value to its customers.”
“Energy from the project will be priced at 11 cents per kWh and will provide 11 percent of Kauaʻi’s electric generation, increasing KIUC’s renewable sourced generation to well over 50 percent,” said KIUC president and CEO David Bissell. “The project delivers power to the island’s electrical grid at significantly less than the current cost of oil-fired power and should help stabilize and even reduce electric rates to KIUC’s members. It is remarkable that we are able to obtain fixed pricing for dispatchable solar-based renewable energy, backed by a significant battery system, at about half the cost of what a basic direct to grid solar project cost a few years ago.”
Bissell estimates that the project will reduce KIUC’s fossil fuel usage by over 3.7 million gallons yearly. AES DE will be the long-term owner and operator of the project. The project is pending state and local regulatory approvals. If approved, it is expected to come on-line by late 2018.
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