Wind and solar can reliably supply 25% of O'ahu's electricity demand

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=4280

Wind and solar can reliably supply 25% of O'ahu's electricity demand

New study done by the Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute, General Electric and Hawaiian Electric Co.

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Tara L. Hicks Johnson, [phone]
Outreach Specialist, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology
Jay Griffin, [phone]
Assistant Specialist, Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute
Posted: Mar. 17, 2011

When combined with on-O'ahu wind farms and solar energy, the Interisland Wind project, which planned to bring 400 megawatts (MW) of wind power from Molokaʻi and Lana'i to O'ahu, can reliably supply more than 25% of Oʻahu’s projected electricity demand, according to the Oʻahu Wind Integration Study (OWIS). The OWIS was conducted by the Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, General Electric (GE) Company and the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO).

For the purposes of the research project, the OWIS released today studied the impact on the Oʻahu grid of a total of 500 MW of wind energy and a nominal 100 MW of solar power, though a good deal more utility-scale and customer-sited solar power is expected on Oʻahu.

The study found that the 500 MW of wind and 100 MW of solar power could eliminate the need to burn approximately 2.8 million barrels of low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) and 132,000 tons of coal each year while maintaining system reliability, if a number of recommendations are incorporated, including:

• Provide state-of-the-art wind power forecasting to help anticipate the amount of power that will be available from wind;
• Increase power reserves (the amount of power that can be called upon from operating generators) to help manage wind variability and uncertainty in wind power forecasts;
• Reduce minimum stable operating power of baseload generating units to provide more power reserves;
• Increase ramp rates (the time it takes to increase or decrease output) of Hawaiian Electric’s thermal generating units;
• Implement severe weather monitoring to ensure adequate power generation is available during periods of higher wind power variability;
• Evaluate other resources capable of contributing reserve, such as fast-starting thermal generating units and load control programs.

The study notes that assuring reliability will require further studies, upgrades to existing and new infrastructure, as well as specific requirements on the wind farms to be connected to the O'ahu system. With these and other proposed changes, the technical analysis suggests, Oʻahu can accommodate increased wind and solar projects with minimal limits on output of renewable resources.

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[ixion]

1. throw in wave and geothermal power generation

and they're off the black stuff.