Email Jason Armstrong at jarmstrong@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By JASON ARMSTRONG
Tribune-Herald staff writer
On the heals of a new report touting Hawaii Island’s potential for increased geothermal energy production, Hawaii Electric Light Co. said Friday that it wants to buy more of the renewable electricity.
Later this year, HELCO will ask the state Public Utilities Commission to solicit proposals from geothermal developers, the utility said in a statement.
“HELCO hopes to add up to 50 megawatts more of geothermal power if the cost is lower for customers,” the statement said.
It recently agreed to purchase 38 megawatts from Puna Geothermal Venture, up from the previous 30 megawatts supplied by PGV’s Pohoiki plant, the only facility of its kind in Hawaii.
However, getting 20 percent of the island’s power from geothermal hasn’t kept Big Island electricity rates from becoming Hawaii’s most expensive.
In June 2010, HELCO asked stakeholders, including geothermal developers, interested landowners and others, for input on the best way to pursue local geothermal development. The request for information generated 20 replies.
“This response was a welcome showing of serious interest as we work toward adding more geothermal energy on Hawaii Island,” HELCO President Jay Ignacio said in the statement. “After reviewing the responses and discussions with respondents, we now plan to move forward to add more geothermal energy to our already considerable portfolio of renewable energy sources.”
On Wednesday, a state-commissioned Big Island panel released the results of a nearly two-year-long evaluation of geothermal’s potential to be the island’s main source of electricity.
Besides being cheaper and cleaner than oil used to generate most of the island’s electricity, local geothermal development could produce 500 and 700 megawatts of electricity, according the findings of the Geothermal Working Group.
According to HELCO, a single megawatt can power 650 Big Island homes.
While preparing to seek geothermal proposals, HELCO also is studying how it could integrate additional geothermal energy into the island’s power grid.
The technical studies will examine the need for more cross-island transmission lines to deliver the energy from lower Puna to West Hawaii customers and the potential for putting one or more fossil-fuel plants on standby, HELCO said.
Email Jason Armstrong at jarmstrong@hawaiitribune-herald.com.