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HILO, HI, July 26, 2007 -- Hawaii Electric
Light Company (HELCO) today announced it has
signed an agreement to purchase renewable energy
produced by a biomass-powered generation facility
under development by Tradewinds Forest Products
LLC and Rockland Capital Energy Investments.
“This is a great addition to our renewable
energy portfolio,” said Warren Lee, HELCO president.
“Renewable energy on the Big Island will now
exceed 35 percent.”
The cogeneration facility will be part of a
veneer mill Tradewinds plans to build in O’okala
on the site of the now-defunct O’okala Sugar
Mill. Scrap wood from the veneer operation will
be used to power Tradewinds’ generating unit.
“This project offers us the opportunity to
add more reliable, renewable energy, reducing
both greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence
on fossil fuels,” said T. Michael May, Hawaiian
Electric president and chief executive officer.
Tradewinds President Don Bryan said the project
will provide sustainable production of both
forest products and energy. “Our biomass-based
energy source will utilize the portions of wood
not suitable for veneer, providing a highly
efficient source of power generation from which
there is very little waste of material or energy,”
Bryan said.
Under the terms of the power purchase agreement,
which requires approval by the Hawaii Public
Utilities Commission, HELCO will purchase between
2MW and 3.6MW of electricity from Tradewinds
on a scheduled basis. The project will also
generate additional electricity to power the
veneer operation. That energy could be made
available to HELCO if needed to cover a generation
shortfall.
Tradewinds designed the project to utilize
15,000 of the nearly 40,000 acres of existing
eucalyptus plantations on the island in a sustainable
fashion. Harvested timber will be replanted
and forests managed to optimize growth and conserve
soil resources. The project will be a net consumer
of carbon dioxide, reducing the amount of greenhouse
gases released into the atmosphere. As veneer
is produced, carbon consumed by the trees will
be trapped in the mill’s finished products.
An estimated 35% of the power HELCO sells currently
comes from renewable energy sources such as
wind, solar, hydro and geothermal. HELCO and
Hawaiian Electric are committed to developing
additional renewable energy sources statewide.
SOURCE: Hawaii Electric Light Company
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