A planned 17.5 MW solar project in Hawaii is in limbo after a Larry Ellison-owned resort said it plans to develop a microgrid that would remove around 40% of the load from Maui Electric’s Lana`i system.
The news was first reported by blogger Illinai Media with additional reporting from Honolulu Civil Beat.
Reports said that Ellison’s sustainability company Pulama Lana‘i wants to develop the microgrid to serve the Four Seasons Lana`i and the Sensei Lana‘i resorts. The renewable energy-powered micrigrid could enter service in 2027.
Pulama Lana‘i reportedly told Maui Electric, a unit of Hawaiian Electric, of its plan on September 21.
Ellison is a co-founder of Oracle Corp. and bought nearly all of Lana’i in 2012 for a reported $300 million.
The island has around 1,700 electric power customers and some of the state’s highest electric rates. The typical September bill for someone using 400 kWh is around $225, according to Hawaiian Electric. The kilowatt rate per hour is $0.56.
The Lanaʻi Solar project was planned to be a fixed-tilt photovoltaic solar and an 89 MWh battery energy storage system. Around 3 MW of energy capacity was planned for a Community-Based Renewable Energy project.
The site is on land owned by Pulama Lanaʻi. The developer was planned to be DG Development & Acquisition, a unit of NextEra Energy.
Reports said that Hawaiian Electric filed a letter with the Public Utilities Commission expressing its disappointment with Pulama Lana‘i’s recent move. The letter said the utility agreed to continue negotiating, but would not execute, a power purchase agreement for the proposed solar project. If Pulama Lana’i opted against the microgrid, then the solar project can move forward “with as little delay as possible,” the utility wrote.
Hawaiian Electric said that in early 2020, the companies suspended, and later revised, a request for proposals for a renewable energy project paired with storage after Pulama Lana’i said it would remove the same two resorts from the grid.
Pulama Lana’i later dropped its plan.
“Based on this history,” Hawaiian Electric told regulators, “the companies want to be prepared to move forward expeditiously should Pulama Lana’i again change its plans.”
