Skip to content

Kahana

Solar Energy and Battery Storage

Energy

Solar + Battery

Offtaker

Targeted to: Maui Electric

Status

Prospective

Capacity Gross (MW)

20 MW (80 MWh battery storage)

Location

Napili-Honokowai, Maui

Expected Commissioning

tba

This project would be developed on land owned by Maui Land and Pineapple Company, Inc. (MLP) in Napili-Honokowai on the island of Maui.

Kahana can generate up to 74,621 MWh per year providing Maui Electric with flexible, semi-dispatchable renewable energy to approximately 11,600 homes

To power the island of Maui with clean and renewable solar energy, a solar field would be built with arrays of photovoltaic panels arranged in rows. The solar array would charge the battery during the day to provide electricity whenever it is needed most, day or night.

A solar project of this nature also requires the following components:

  • the solar photovoltaic system;
  • a network of electrical collector lines;
  • battery energy storage and inverter units;
  • step-up transformers;
  • a collector substation and transformer;
  • an overhead generation-tie line;
  • internal access roads; and
  • temporary laydown (i.e. staging) areas for construction.

Land

This project makes productive use of unproductive land. Maintaining large tracts of agricultural lands is a core value of Maui County residents. At the same time, the public acknowledges that farming on Maui is more difficult than ever with high costs of inputs, production, and shipping. Most residents do recognize the need for these landowners to diversify in order to keep their large land holdings intact. Renewable energy development is a low impact way of accomplishing this.

The Project would utilize fallow agricultural lands, which has not sustained active activities since 2009 – the installation of a solar project would not displace existing agricultural production.

The solar array and associated infrastructure would occupy approximately 220 acres.