State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director Ted Liu (Viewpoint, Feb. 17) criticized Maui Electric Co. on its plans for adding more wind energy to the Maui grid.
The question raised is, why can’t Maui Electric immediately take all the wind farms that developers want to build right now?
The fact is that Maui Electric does want to add as much renewable energy, including more wind, as soon as possible. That’s why, after an extensive evaluation, we’ve decided to work with Shell Wind to develop a second wind farm on Maui.
We want to add a second wind farm now and hope to add more wind power later as developing battery storage and control technologies improve and make it possible to do so without degrading service to Maui customers.
Maui is already at the forefront when it comes to the percentage of wind energy on its grid. With wind energy meeting approximately 10 percent of Maui’s energy usage in 2007, our island is a clear leader in this area. UPC Wind Power’s existing Kaheawa Wind Farm should be commended for that.
Looking to build on this success, our engineers and generation planners considered two very good and comparable proposals. UPC proposed to expand its 30-megawatt Kaheawa Wind Farm on the West Maui ridge above Maalaea at the same location.
Shell Wind, part of the international energy company, proposed a wind farm some miles away on remote land at Ulupalakua Ranch in Upcountry Maui, also a strong wind site.
The decision came down to diversifying the wind power locations. An intermittent energy source like wind isn’t always available and can fluctuate widely within seconds. Sometimes it’s strong, sometimes it drops off suddenly. This variability can impact reliable service, especially in this age of increasing reliance on sensitive electronics in homes and at work.
Based on the experience of wind power on the island of Hawaii and around the world, we believe two wind farms in two locations with two somewhat different wind regimes will make it easier to accept more wind on Maui’s system right now without jeopardizing service to Maui customers or the stability of the Maui grid.
We don’t agree with any suggestion that service to customers and the long-term reliability of the Maui electrical grid should be less of a priority. We believe we can and must have more renewable energy and reliability at the same time.
We are studying every available engineering and technical solution in an effort to add more renewable energy sources on Maui. This includes already bringing in General Electric to work with us, the state DBEDT, the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and others on a study to determine how we can address the issues that would allow even more wind to be added to our small, stand-alone island grid.
And in the big picture, we believe Maui can be the first island to be virtually 100 percent renewable for electricity within a decade with a diverse portfolio of renewable resources, including from sources like the recently announced wave energy project planned for off of Pauwela Point.
In short, we are not choosing reliability over renewables. Done the right way, more renewable energy is possible without sacrificing reliability for the residents and businesses of Maui, and for that matter, our other islands as well.
• Ed Reinhardt is president of the Maui Electric Co.
