RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPERS INFORMATION PACKET

Instructions and help about RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPERS INFORMATION PACKET

In January of 2024, right on the heels  of a serious drought across the state,   a major storm slammed into the Hawaiian islands  of Oahu and Kauai. Severe winds caused damage to   buildings, and heavy rain flooded roadways.  At the Waiau Steam Turbine plant,   the rain reached some of the generator unit  controls, tripping two units and knocking 100   megawatts of power off the tiny grid (roughly 10%  of demand). The overcast weather also meant solar   panels weren’t producing much electricity, and the  colossal battery systems at Kapolei and Waiawa were running out of juice.  Other generating units were out of service due to   maintenance scheduled during the cool winter  months when power demands were lowest. Then,   the H-POWER trash-to-energy plant tripped  offline as well. By the evening of January 8th,   all of Hawaiian Electric’s power  reserves on Oahu were depleted,   and it was clear that they weren’t going to have  enough generation to me