Hawaii’s growing reputation as a global center for clean energy research and development has attracted another delegation of foreign officials looking to see what the state has to offer.
A group of 17 national and local government representatives from Taiwan are touring renewable energy facilities on Oahu and Hawaii island this week, laying the groundwork for a relationship that could lead to greater cooperation on research and development projects, said Hwang Wang-Hsiang, a senior government officials who led the delegation.
Taiwan’s energy policy is similar to Hawaii’s in pushing for greater use of renewable sources to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels for energy generation, said Hwang, deputy minister of Taiwan’s Council for Economic Planning and Development.
The delegation included officials from three island counties off the coast of Taiwan, he said. "They are what we call ‘low-carbon’ communities. Their environments are very similar to Hawaii," Hwang said through an interpreter.
The delegation’s itinerary on Oahu included a presentation on electric vehicles by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, a meeting with Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz and visits to the Hawaii Renewable Energy Development Venture and a hydrogen production and fueling facility at Hickam Air Force Base. A visit to Hawaii island Wednesday included scheduled stops at the Puna Geothermal Ventures facility, Pacific Biodiesel’s new production plant and the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii.
Taiwan’s next step will be to send a delegation to attend the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo next year in Honolulu, Hwang said. "In the future we hope there will be more chances to work together with the state of Hawaii," he added.
Hawaii is involved in a variety of clean energy partnerships that have brought in more than $50 million in research and development money to the state.
The largest of those is the $37 million U.S.-Japan Smart Grid Project on Maui. The project, funded by the Japanese government-sponsored New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, will demonstrate how solar, wind and other renewable energy sources can be integrated into an electrical grid.
There are two other smart grid projects under way on Maui funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. In addition, the state is negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean government for a project that would explore the use of "micro grid" technology in an area with a high number of hotels.
The fact that foreign governments are showing an increasing interest in Hawaii highlights the potential for investment in energy research and development to help diversify the state’s economy, said Mark Glick, director of the state’s energy office.
"It further establishes Hawaii as the world’s leading test bed for clean energy, research, development and demonstration," Glick said.
"There are real investment dollars associated with that in several of the cases. There is also the benefit of sharing innovative technologies that can move us closer to our goals and being on the cutting edge. It’s a real collaboration and mutual benefit in terms of knowledge learned," he said.
