SunEdison has been granted a special permit by the Hawaii Land Use Commission to build a 50MW solar plant within the Kawailoa Plantation on the North shore of Oahu.
The project will be co-located within the plantation’s existing 69MW wind farm on agricultural lands, a SunEdison spokesperson told PV Tech.
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Furthermore, the plantation plans to continue to raise sheep around the new solar panels.
This week Hawaii became the first US state to set a goal for 100% of its electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2045, after governor David Ige signed a bill mandating the target.
Hawaii's renewable energy use has doubled in the past five years, with the islands currently generating about 22% of their electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy resources.
The new law also increases an interim requirement, targeting at least 30% renewable electricity by 2020.
The SunEdison spokesperson added: “We’re pleased to receive the permit, and look forward to moving forward with the project to help Hawaii achieve its goal of having 100% renewable power.”
“Hawaii is making history, not only for the islands, but for the planet,” said Jeff Mikulina, Executive Director of the Blue Planet Foundation.
In related news this week, shareholders of the utility Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) approved a merger with US electricity producer NextEra Energy.
NextEra Energy will support HEI’s plans to triple distributed solar, including rooftop solar, and achieve a 65% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by 2030.
Subject to approval by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the companies have committed to approximately US$60 million in customer savings over four years and to not request an increase in the general base electricity rate for at least four years post-transaction close.
Hawaiian Electric will continue to operate under its current name, be locally managed and remain headquartered in Honolulu.
Jeff Watanabe, HEI's chairman said: “The approval marks another significant milestone in our efforts to accelerate Hawaii's clean energy transformation by bringing the expertise and resources of NextEra Energy to our state to achieve even higher levels of renewables and lower energy costs for our customers.”
