Renewable energy developer and independent power producer (IPP) Clearway Energy has opened its first utility-scale solar-plus-storage project on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Clearway said a few days ago that the installation of the $140 million project had been completed ahead of schedule, and announced the opening of the Mililani SolarI solar-plus-storage project.
The project will deploy a 39MW solar farm with a 39MW/159MWh battery energy storage system. Clearway signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Hawaii Electric Corporation (HECO) in 2018 for the Mililani SolarI solar + storage project and the Waiawa Solar solar + storage project, respectively. The Waiawa Solar solar + storage project is A 36MW solar power generation facility and a 36MW/144MWh battery storage project are independently operated on Oahu.
Construction on both projects began in April 2021, with Moss Solar, the solar power arm of local infrastructure developer Moss, as the contractor for both projects.
Finnish energy storage system integrator and manufacturer Wärtsilä supplies battery storage systems for both projects. Wärtsilä announced in July that it will supply the storage systems for Clearway's O'ahu energy storage project and three solar-plus-storage projects developed by Clearway in California.
The three battery energy storage projects developed by Clearway have a total scale of 500MW/2,000MWh, and all three battery energy storage systems are deployed in conjunction with solar power generation facilities. The retrofit, two additional new solar-plus-storage projects will be adjacent to the site of two decommissioned fossil-fuel power plants in San Bernardino County, California. The projects are scheduled to go online next year.
In Clearway's project, Wärtsilä provided the GridSolve Quantum battery storage solution developed by the company, like all its battery storage projects. The GridSolv Quantum solution also includes the GEMS digital energy platform Energy Management System (EMS) and will be equipped with Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries.
Oahu is home to Hawaii's only coal-fired power plant, which is scheduled to close and be replaced by a solar farm and battery storage. Hawaii also plans to achieve a 100 percent renewable energy target by 2045, and the state already has one of the highest per capita solar adoption rates in the U.S., especially for residential rooftop photovoltaics.
Since the Hawaii Electric Company (HECO) signed the Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement for Clearway's Solar + Storage Project in 2018, several purchases have been made through tenders, and approximately 5GWh of battery storage systems as well as power from the solar power facility have been signed. contract of purchase.
AES begins construction of two other large-scale solar + storage projects in Hawaii, a 60MW solar farm and 240MWh battery storage system deployed on Maui, and a 30MW solar farm and 120MWh battery deployed on the island of Hawaii energy storage system.
Clearway deployed three solar-plus-storage projects in Hawaii in 2019, two on Oahu and one on Hawaii. When the two new solar-plus-storage projects come online, the company's total installed solar capacity across the state will reach 185MW.
