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HECO seeks approval for battery project

40-MW, 160-MWh system would be built near landfill

The Waena Battery Energy Storage site is proposed to be located on the right side of this former sugar cane haul road. This photo was taken Wednesday afternoon along Pulehu Road across from the Central Maui Landfill. On Tuesday, Hawaiian Electric filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission for the 40-megawatt, 160-megawatt-hour project. The Maui News MATTHEW THAYER photo

Hawaiian Electric is seeking approval for a 40-megawatt, 160-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system near the Central Maui landfill.

The project is one of several solar and battery proposals that HECO is hoping will help replace the oil-fired 37-MW Kahului Power Plant, set to retire around 2023 to 2024.

The $60 million Waena battery storage system would be located on 1.8 acres of HECO-owned land off Pulehu Road and deliver power to a 3-acre electrical switchyard nearby, according to project documents. The battery would store energy during times when customer demand is low and feed the grid during times of peak demand, such as the early morning and evening hours. This would allow the grid to rely more on renewable energy sources and have a backup for disasters or outages.

HECO, which held a virtual public meeting on the project in April, filed an application for the project with the state Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday.

Back in August 2019, HECO issued a request for proposals seeking renewable energy projects to help wean Hawaii’s grids off coal and oil. On Maui, the utility sought 150 MW of renewable energy with storage and 40 MW of standalone storage.

In response, HECO itself proposed the development of five grid-tied battery energy storage systems on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island. The Waena battery project on Maui and the Keahole battery project on Hawaii island were among 16 selected to the final award group in May. HECO plans to move forward with the Waena and Keahole projects; the other three did not make it to the final group.

HECO filed an application with the PUC for the Keahole project Aug. 28.

Under PUC rules, HECO can propose “self-build projects” — developed, constructed and owned by the utility — to meet generation and/or capacity needs, according to the utility’s website.

The Waena project would use Tesla’s Megapack lithium ion battery system, according to the project application. The site would include 51 pad-mounted battery modules, 12 pad-mounted medium voltage transformers, a Tesla site controller system, medium-voltage switchgear and two step-up transformers.

HECO said the site is ideal because it comes with no additional land costs, minimal site preparation and permitting requirements and proximity to the switchyard, which will be proposed as a separate project.

HECO hopes to start construction on the battery project in March 2022 and have it up and running by April 2023. Most of the estimated $60 million project costs will come from the contract that will cover the engineering, procurement and construction of the system.

The battery storage system is expected to operate for 20 years.

Comments or questions on the project can be submitted to mauibess@hawaiianelectric.com until Oct. 8 and will be included in HECO’s application.

To view the videos of the virtual meeting, along with the PUC application and project details, visit hawaiianelectric.com/selfbuildprojects.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

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