The 30 MW, 120 MWh Hale Kuawehi project is the first renewable project to begin producing power for Hawaii Island in nearly a year.
Hawaii is coming closer to its renewable energy goals with the commercial operation of a solar-plus-storage project on the island of Hawaii.
The 30 MW, 120 MWh Hale Kuawehi solar-plus-storage project will produce power exclusively for the Hawaii Electric Light Company under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Hawaii Electric Light Company, the local utility serving the island of Hawaii.
Hale Kuawehi is the first renewable energy project to come online for the Hawaii Electric Light Company in nearly a year.
The Kūihelani solar-plus-storage project was one of the island’s most recent projects, which came online last May and generates enough electricity for 15% of Maui’s needs at just 8 cents per kWh. According to the utility’s 2024–2025 sustainability report, 58.7% of Hawaii Island’s electricity is renewable energy, of which 18% is solar.
Innergex, which developed and owns the project, initiated the project in 2018 with a request for proposal. The project sits about 300 acres of land owned by the Parker Ranch near Waimea.
Innergex was met with public opposition for a previous project in Hawaii in 2021, which was eventually approved after the West Maui Preservation Association withdrew its complaint, seemingly ending a year with thousands of pages of filings and local complaints. Innergex signed a 25-year PPA to sell the project’s electricity for about 8.9 cents per kWh, well below the island’s retail price of about 35 cents per kWh at the time.
Hawaii has the highest average electricity rate in the country at 36.55 cents per kWh, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. For comparison, the U.S. average among states is 13.11 cents per KWh.
Hawaii requires all utility-scale solar projects to also contain an energy storage facility that is equal to the peak solar-power grid output, plus four hours of storage.
Other notable projects within the Hawaiian islands include the Kapolei energy storage project on Oahu, which adds 135 MW, 540 MWh to the Hawaiian Electric grid, with an additional 50 MW, 25 MWh of “fast frequency response” to support grid stability; and the Waikoloa solar-plus-storage project, which generates clean energy for the Hawaii Electric Company through a 25-year PPA.
(See also: After a pointed exchange, Hawaii regulators revise conditions for a $500m energy storage project)
Hawaii is ranked 24th in the country for its solar capacity, according to data through the end of 2024 from Solar Energy Industries Association. Hawaii’s state goal is to use 100% renewable energy by 2045.
