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Utility-size solar projects to power up this year

Maui’s first two utility-scale solar power projects in South and West Maui, which could supply up to 6 megawatts of power, are expected to come online by the second half of this year, a Maui Electric Co. spokeswoman said last week.

When the state Public Utilities Commission approved the power purchase agreements in February 2016, an official representing both South Maui Renewable Resources LLC and Kuia Solar LLC said that the hope was to have the projects commissioned by December 2016. Both SMRR and Kuia are limited partnerships involving Hawaii Pacific Solar LLC and Haleakala Energy Associates LLC, whose owners are Hawaii residents, according to PUC documents.

Tricia Rohlfing, president of both SMRR and Kuia, said in December that Hawaii Pacific Solar had partnered with Florida-based Kenyon Energy, which developed and operates a 493-kilowatt solar project in Waianae, Oahu. The project was completed in October 2014, and Kenyon purchased the solar facility from Blue Earth for $2 million, according to Kenyon Energy’s website.

Kenyon Energy is a national independent power producer providing direct, solar-generated electricity to municipalities, utilities and corporations, a news release on its website said. Kenyon Energy finances, plans, develops and operates distributed and grid-connected, solar-power facilities.

“They are knowledgeable about our local utilities and solar conditions,” Rohlfing said in a December email. “They have partnered with Hawaii Pacific Solar on other projects in Hawaii.”

Rohlfing referred all comments on the projects to a Kenyon Energy official, who did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him.

When asked about the status of the project, MECO spokeswoman Shayna Decker said Wednesday: “We continue to work with the developer with the expectation that the two solar projects will come online by the second half of this year.”

According to the power purchase agreement, the developer is subject to construction milestones and is required to file monthly reports with the utility.

The PUC approved the two 2.87-MW solar projects, which the Hawaii Pacific Solar website says will generate up to 6 MW of power. SMRR is proposed for 12 acres above the Maui Research & Technology Park on land leased from Haleakala Ranch, and Kuia Solar on 12 acres leased from Kamehameha Schools near Lahainaluna High School.

The power will be sold to MECO at 11.06 cents per kilowatt hour. MECO has said that power generated from Maui wind farms costs 12 cents per kWh. This is slightly less than the 12.5 cents per kWh it cost the utility in April for fossil-fuel-generated power, PUC reports said.

The agreements are for 22 years with the possibility of extensions. Unlike rooftop PV, which flows into the grid unregulated, the two PV systems will allow MECO to “curtail,” or dump, power to keep the grid operating safely, as the utility does with wind power.

MECO has to equalize consumption with production from its fossil-fuel-fired plants and fluctuating renewables such as wind and solar.

SMRR and Kuia will own their facilities and be responsible for construction and operation. The construction cost of the projects was not disclosed by the companies, but the initial draft power purchase agreement filed by MECO in August 2015 offers a glimpse at those costs.

Within the 250-page filing with the PUC, MECO used a formula offered by Standard & Poor’s to log Kuia’s and SMRR’s capital costs at their inception. Kuia’s capital cost was estimated at $6.4 million and SMRR at $6.5 million.

* Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.

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