Better batteries will boost PV use

The destination is easy to envision — a future Hawaii that is much less reliant on imported fossil fuels for its energy. The pathway leading there, a little less so.

That’s because, although the islands already have enviable riches in potential "green" energy, delivering them to the customer gets complicated. Solar power, which is being adopted at the most rapidly-accelerating rate, can be generated abundantly overall, but arrives intermittently on the utility power grid. And that, the utility technicians say, causes instability on the grid, which was designed for the "firm," constant power availability of the oil-fired turbines.

The long-term goal remains, as it should, the development of a 21st century electrical delivery system that is nimbler, better able to adjust to changing conditions of power supply and demand. But recent moves in the direction of battery technology, enabling excess power to be stored and deployed quickly represent an encouraging and doubtlessly necessary mid-range step toward the goal.

In particular, Hawaiian Electric Co. and the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute are partnering on a project, due to begin by the second quarter of this year, to try out battery technology in West Oahu, one area where photovoltaic solar systems have particularly high market penetration.

It will employ a 1-megawatt lithium-ion battery to be installed between the HECO Campbell Industrial Park substation and a distribution circuit serving homes that have more than 3 megawatts of PV capacity. The mission is to gain a clearer understanding of how to use the storage technology to keep voltages constant on circuits with high PV use.

The energy institute also is working on Molokai with Maui Electric Co., a HECO subsidiary, on another, similar battery-storage test. This momentum should not be surprising, given the explorations being made by the private industry to promote a battery-enabled transition "off the grid" for their customers.

The explosion of the PV industry has overtaken the other players in Hawaii’s race to meet its renewable energy goals, laid out in the state’s Clean Energy Initiative target: By 2030, Hawaii should have 70 percent "clean energy," meaning that the state would generate 40 percent of its energy through renewable sources and reduce the use of fossil fuels by another 30 percent, through conservation efforts.

That commitment was struck as part of a 2008 partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. Under President Barack Obama, the agency has shown mounting interest in battery-technology advances and last month released a report on grid energy storage.

The report identified four challenges to be overcome, including the development of equitable regulations, the technical performance and cost problems, the need for broad industry acceptance of the technology and reliability and safety concerns.

This is no small matter. The public became aware of the safety issue, for example, after the fire that, a year ago, stemmed from batteries at the Kahuku wind farm. It’s a different generation method, to be sure, but it still illustrates that the path to success likely won’t be easy or perfectly straightforward.

Regardless, any progress made in this direction deserves support from the utility’s government overseers. This is the best route to take to make Hawaii’s clean-energy mantra resonate as more than well-intentioned resolutions.