Hawaiian Electric Seeks Onshore Wind Farm Developers On Oahu

Oahu Onshore Wind Investment Tax Credit drives utility-scale wind development, helping Hawaiian Electric cut rates, meet 100 percent renewable goals by 2045, and leverage federal incentives via shovel-ready projects, competitive procurement, and PUC oversight.

To potentially save money for its customers, Hawaiian Electric Company wants to determine if there are independent developers capable of building utility-scale onshore wind projects on Oahu, even as U.S. offshore wind gains momentum, that would be able to take advantage of the federal investment tax credit for wind power that expires in 2019.

Hawaiian Electric is committed to achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2045 while keeping electric rates as low as possible. Onshore wind projects able to capture the expiring federal investment tax credits for large wind are of interest, especially as analyses warn that a solar ITC extension could pressure the US wind market, because they can help reach those goals. The federal investment tax credit for large wind is scheduled to decrease, a timeline that parallels questions about achieving 1 GW of offshore wind on the grid, as follows: 24 percent in 2017, 18 percent in 2018, and ending at 12 percent in 2019.

“The potential capacity for additional wind power on Oahu is limited, unlike areas with active BOEM wind lease requests, and land costs on this island are significant contributors of renewable projects pricing, so we believe it is important to identify ‘shovel-ready’ projects that can take advantage of the federal tax credits as the cost of such projects will likely be higher in the future,” said Shelee Kimura, Hawaiian Electric vice president for Corporate Planning and Business Development.

Interested parties who are capable of building onshore grid-scale wind projects on Oahu are asked to respond with an “expression of interest” no later than Jan. 31, 2017. Information from the responses may assist in the development and issuance of a more formal request for proposals within a competitive bidding process, potentially aligning with DOE wind energy funding, or the issuance of an alternative means of procurement, subject to approval by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC.)

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