This story was originally published by Canary Media.
Hawaiʻi shut down its last coal plant on September 1, 2022, eliminating 180 megawatts of fossil-fueled baseload power from the grid on O’ahu — a crucial step in the state’s first-in-the-nation commitment to cease burning fossil fuels for electricity by 2045.
But the move posed a question that’s becoming increasingly urgent as clean energy surges across the United States: How do you maintain a reliable grid while switching from familiar fossil plants to a portfolio of small and large renewables that run off the vagaries of the weather?
Now Hawaiʻi has an answer: It’s a gigantic battery, unlike the gigantic batteries that have been built before.
The Kapolei Energy Storage system actually began commercial operations before Christmas on the industrial west side of O’ahu, according to Plus Power, the Houston-based firm that developed and owns the project. (The company just had the good sense to wait to annou... Read more
