Hawaii Electric Energy Storage System

Will a storage battery help Hawaiian Electric deal with over-generation?

A storage battery project has not yet proven its effectiveness at scale, according to Bob Rudd, the chief commercial officer at Plus Power. The battery's capacity will help address the issue of clean energy curtailment, also known as over-generation, for Hawaiian Electric, Rudd said.

Does Hawaiian Electric have a 'black-start capability'?

Hawaiian Electric’s modeling suggests it can reduce curtailment of renewables by an estimated 69% for the first five years thanks to Kapolei Energy Storage, allowing surplus clean electricity that would otherwise go to waste to get onto the grid. The utility also requested “black-start capability.”

What makes Kapolei the most advanced battery energy storage facility?

Plus Power located the project near a substation connected to three other power plants so the battery “can be AAA to jump-start those other plants,” Keefe said. The combination of all these abilities in one site — capacity, grid services, black start — leads Keefe to call Kapolei “the most advanced battery energy storage facility on the planet.”

Will Hawaiian Electric's new battery plant save customers money?

According to Hawaiian Electric, the project will save customers money. The Hawaiian Electric filing for KES estimated it will reduce electric bills by an average of $0.28 per month over a 20-year contract life. The battery plant's specifications include:

Is Hawaii a gigantic battery?

Now Hawaii has an answer: It’s a gigantic battery, unlike the gigantic batteries that have been built before. The Kapolei Energy Storage system came online last month after some setbacks. (Courtesy: Plus Power)

Why did Hawaiian Electric join the grid?

Even then, it has joined the grid before several of the other large solar and battery projects slated to replace the coal plant’s production with clean power. Grid batteries operate in a fundamentally different way than coal plants, so Hawaiian Electric and Plus Power crafted a new framework to replace what needed to be replaced.