This state is fast becoming as the clean energy mecca of the United States. This is the way it’s going down.

This state is fast becoming as the clean energy mecca of the United States. This is the way it’s going down.

The experience of living in a nation where one in three people has rooftop solar power, 15% of new cars are electric, and massive batteries store energy for use after the sun sets is something that Americans don’t have to contemplate.

All they need to do is visit Hawaii.

Hawaii promised to be “Coal free by ’23,” and in just 21 years, state law requires the use of only clean energy. This month, a massive 185 megawatt battery near Honolulu hummed into full operation, bringing the aim closer to reality.

About 20 miles west of Honolulu, the Kapolei Energy Storage facility is hidden away on eight acres of industrial land. Above all, it appears to be 158 white storage huts, roughly the size of shipping containers, arranged in a tidy row on concrete platforms.

About 20 miles west of Honolulu, the Kapolei Energy Storage facility is hidden away on eight acres of industrial land. Above all, it appears to be 158 white storage huts, roughly the size of shipping containers, arranged in a tidy row on concrete platforms.

185 megawatts of power, or 17% of the island of O’ahu, could be stored in these lithium iron phosphate batteries for three hours.

Colton Ching, senior vice president of planning and technology at Hawaiian Electric, stated that “this system is larger as a percentage of the electricity system than any other battery in the world.” 95% of the people in the state are connected to the utility for power.

Colton Ching, senior vice president of planning and technology at Hawaiian Electric, stated that “this system is larger as a percentage of the electricity system than any other battery in the world.” 95% of the people in the state are connected to the utility for power.

Hawaii’s energy situation is unique.

Hawaii lacks fossil fuels but is endowed with an abundance of wind, sun, and geothermal energy. Rather, over 80% of the state’s energy is produced by an oil supertanker that docks at a refinery close to the Honolulu port every ten days or so, according to Mikulina.

Because almost all of that oil is imported, mostly from Argentina and Libya, it is up to 6,000 miles distant, making energy in Hawaii costly and vulnerable to both natural disasters and geopolitical unrest.

He declared, “We’re just one supertanker away from becoming Amish.” “We have enough oil in storage to last us 25 days.”

Each of Hawaii’s six main islands has its own electrical grid, not connected to any other island. The state already gets 32% of its energy from renewables. Today 6.25% of Hawaii’s electricity comes from its seven wind farms. On the Big Island of Hawaii, about 30% of power comes from geothermal from a plant that gets heat from near the Kilauea volcano that erupted in September.

Hawaii is now bringing its electricity back home, which the state hopes will bring stability, lower costs, and a cleaner environment.

There are also an increasing number of electric cars there. In Hawaii, 15% of newly sold cars were electric last year.

Mikulina stated that it makes sense. “The biggest obstacles of cost and range anxiety aren’t here because gas is expensive and we don’t have to drive very far,” he stated.

Still, solar energy is what sets the state apart, particularly in terms of its source.

Hawaii came up with a creative plan in 2022 to make up for closing its final coal plant. State authorities developed the Battery Bonus scheme, which provided financial assistance to homes installing battery storage and rooftop solar.

In return, the home provides two hours of electricity back into the grid, ideally between 6 and 8:30 p.m., when Hawaii needs power because the sun has set.

Maui contributed 6.29 megawatts, and the island of Oahu added 40 megawatts by the end of 2023.

More complex and less customer-friendly standards were devised for 2024, causing controversy. The island’s solar business has requested the state Public Utilities Commission to reevaluate.

There are several utility-scale solar farms in the state as well. The Waikoloa solar plus storage project, the largest on Hawaii’s Big Island, went online last year and currently provides more than 7% of the island’s electricity. Mikulina stated, “It’s in the middle of a lava field, and it’s already lowering people’s bills by at least $5 a month.”

However, the astounding thing about Hawaii’s solar situation is the sheer number of solar-equipped homes. Rooftop solar power is installed on a record 37% of Hawaiian houses, making up an amazing 44% of the state’s renewable energy.

Australia is the only country in the world that comes close to it, with 26% of its energy coming from solar panels installed on private roofs.

We frequently speak with those guys. Their problems are remarkably similar to ours, Ching remarked.

That’s the function of batteries.

That’s the function of batteries.

Why a large battery is necessary

Nuclear, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy are the three forms of carbon-neutral power that run around the clock. However, expanding any of them would be politically challenging, thus the only options left to satisfy the country’s energy ambitions are wind and solar.

The sun doesn’t constantly shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, as critics often point out. Batteries on a grid scale balance things out. The batteries are charged up when there is more energy available from solar and wind power than can be consumed; they subsequently drain when the wind picks up or the sun sets.

When solar energy falls off the grid at dusk and when everyone eventually turns out the lights to go to bed, these batteries’ enormous energy storage capacity can fill the void.

Hawaii, though, is a different story. It has so much solar power that it isn’t always able to consume the entire amount that the 200,000 or so solar-powered residences feed into the system. In order to maintain equilibrium, grid operators must “curtail,” or turn off, either utility-scale wind or solar power.

Oahu will be able to add 10% more solar power without worrying that it may overload the system thanks to the new Kapolei battery.

Grid services support the transition to renewable energy

In addition to storing large amounts of energy, the Kapolei Energy Storage facility performs a number of intricate and vital tasks that support the state’s effort to transition to 100% renewable energy sources. In the years to come, more batteries on the mainland will perform similar tasks.

An electric grid can be compared to a teeter-totter. There is energy flowing in on one end and energy leaving on the other. The system can collapse if the in and out aren’t precisely balanced, causing instability.

“A power plant somewhere is working a little harder when you flip on a light switch,” according to Brandon Keefe, executive chairman of Plus Power, the Texas-based business that manufactured the Kapolei battery.

Electric power grids have relied on fossil fuel plants for the last 120 years or so. These plants’ operators continuously assess the requirement for energy and adjust their output to maintain the system’s frequency balance. We refer to that initial line of protection as frequency control.

The second line of defense, known as inertia, involves either accelerating or decelerating the plants’ already-spinning turbines in order to produce more energy and close the frequency mismatch.

Both are possible with the Kapolei Energy Storage facility, which offers “synthetic inertia.”

“We can race up and fill major gaps in the system in 250 milliseconds, a little slower than the blink of an eye,” Keefe stated.

According to Ching, Hawaii will soon be able to close all of its fossil fuel plants thanks to these kinds of batteries.

For visitors, not much will alter. The ocean will be cool, the air will stay warm, and the resorts will be alluring.

For visitors, not much will alter. The ocean will be cool, the air will stay warm, and the resorts will be alluring.

According to Mikulina, Hawaii will serve as a model state for the rest of the country. “We have the potential to serve as a living laboratory for clean energy.”