Clearway Energy Group’s 36 MW solar farm with 144 MWh of battery storage on Kamehameha Schools’ lands in Waiawa, Hawaii, in central Oahu, recently achieved commercial operations after passing all of its necessary commissioning tests.
“We are proud to help Hawaii reach its climate goals and invest in renewable energy in the state,” said Craig Cornelius, CEO of Clearway. “We are immensely grateful for the collaboration with our partners Hawaiian Electric and Kamehameha Schools who help make those goals a reality.”
Clearway is a national independent power producer and leading solar energy developer in Hawaii. This is Clearway’s second utility-scale solar and battery project on Oahu and the fifth utility-scale solar project that it has developed on the island.
“Clean energy is better for our air, our health and our cost of living,” said Gov. Josh Green, M.D. “This solar project is an important addition to Oahu’s growing portfolio of lower-cost renewable resources to benefit all residents.”
This newest solar and battery storage power plant represents a $150 million investment on approximately 180 acres of land leased from Kamehameha Schools.
“Stabilizing energy costs for our customers is a priority, and projects like Waiawa Solar will feed electricity to the grid at about half the cost of oil,” said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric. “We appreciate Clearway’s and Kamehameha Schools’ contributions as we all work together to decarbonize our energy system, and look forward to bringing more benefits to our communities as six additional projects come online over the next two years on O’ahu.”
This is also the second utility-scale solar project that Clearway has developed on Kamehameha Schools’ lands on Oahu.
“Our collaboration with Clearway has provided us with paths to steward our ‘āina in ways to reduce Hawaii’s dependence on fossil fuels while bringing ‘āina-based learning to haumāna through partnerships and innovations,” said Kā’eo Duarte, vice president of community and ‘Ᾱina resiliency for Kamehameha Schools. “We congratulate Clearway and Hawaiian Electric Co. in reaching this milestone which we believe will help to contribute to the resiliency of our communities.”
Clearway has developed renewable projects in Hawaii since 2019, including a 45.9 MW site in Waipi’o, a 14.7 MW site in Mililani and a 49 MW site in Kawailoa on Oahu’s North Shore. In August 2022, Clearway completed Oahu’s first utility-scale solar and battery project in the Mililani Agricultural Park. Altogether, the five solar projects total 185 MW for Hawaiian Electric’s grid.
Project construction was led by Moss Solar and the batteries were supplied by Wärtsilä.
— Solar Builder magazine
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