subject: Hawaii: On The Path To Sustainability [print this page] In 1881, King David Kalakaua had the bright idea of using Hawaii's fiery volcanoes to produce electricity and light the streets. It took technology the next century to catch up with the visionary king.
Today geothermal energy is the only renewable resource on the Big Island (that's Hawaii Island) that provides firm, baseload energy on a continuous basis. It's helped make the island the most energy independent of all the Hawaiian Islands.
"Thirty percent of our power comes from renewable resources. Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) generates two-thirds of that powerproviding nearly 20 percent of our residents' electricity needs," says Michael Kaleikini, PGV's plant manager.
Geothermal exploration in Hawaii began in the 1960s. A public-private partnership dug the first experimental geothermal well in Puna District in 1976. The project developed into a three-megawatt power plant that went online in 1981. It was one of the hottest geothermal wells in the world.
The well was intended only as a test and was never intended as a commercial operation. However, its output was sorely needed at the time, due to island-wide energy shortages, and it continued for eight years. Production ceased in 1989 as the plant failed to meet rising community and regulatory standards.
In the early 1990s, Puna Geothermal Venture received a permit to produce renewable geothermal energy on the slopes of Kilauea. The plant went online in 1993. Today this state-of-the-art facility delivers 30 megawatts of firm renewable energy on a continuous basis.
Hawaii Island is located above a volcanically active "hot spot" in the Earth's mantle and has the most potential of all the isles for electrical power generation and direct uses of the heat. Despite its restriction to the Big Island of Hawaii, geothermal produces about 31 percent of Hawaii's renewable energy resources statewide.
"It's capable of much more," says Kaleikini. "The potential remains largely untapped."
PGV has been quietly producing geothermal-generated electricity for Hawaii Electric Light Company for years, working to be a good neighbor, and a steady supplier of power.
When Ormat Technologies, Inc. acquired Puna Geothermal Venture in 2004, the state's most reliable alternate renewable energy source entered a major new phase. Puna Geothermal Venture underwent substantial upgrades.
Today the facility gets high marks all around in sustainability: it uses no fossil fuels in production, emits no greenhouse gasses, and records near-zero emissions from the plant.
For 16 years, Puna Geothermal Venture has provided a continuous flow of electricity for Big Island homes and businesses, replacing thousands of barrels of imported oil every year.
