Kauai utility plans to boost use of hydropower

LIHUE >> Kauai’s electric utility says it plans to buy power from a new hydroelectric facility.

The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative says the facility being built by Gay & Robinson will be the first new large-scale hydropower plant on Kauai in 80 years.

CEO David Bissell said in a statement Thursday the agreement will help the utility get closer to its goal of using renewables to generate 50 percent of its energy.

Terms of a proposed contract between the utility and Gay & Robinson are confidential. They must be approval by the Public Utilities Commission. Gay and Robinson hopes to have the plant operational in five years.

Gay & Robinson plans to build the 6-megawatt facility below an existing 1.3-megawatt plant on Olokele Ditch.