HECO to deactivate its Honolulu plant

Hawaiian Electric Co. will deactivate its 59-year-old Honolulu Power Plant in January as part of its strategy to increase the use of renewable energy and reduce Hawaii’s dependence on imported fossil fuel, company officials said Tuesday.

The move is part of a plan to deactivate a total of 226 megawatts of utility-owned generation by 2016, which HECO outlined in its latest Integrated Resource Plan filed with the Public Utilities Commission at the end of June. HECO first announced the plan in June but did not give exact dates for the deactivation of the power plant until Tuesday.

HECO has about 1,700 megawatts of generating capacity on Oahu.

"Deactivation" means the power plant will no longer be available for routine service. However, deactivated power plants can be restored to service if necessary to avoid a power shortage to customers. By contrast, "retirement" or "decommission" means a generating unit is permanently removed from service and no longer available under any circumstances.

Deactivation is considered the first step toward the eventual retirement of a generating unit, although there is no set date to retire the Honolulu Power Plant, according to HECO.

Honolulu Power Plant, located across the street from Aloha Tower Marketplace, went into service in 1954. The plant’s two remaining oil-fired generating units have a combined generating capacity of 113 megawatts.

"For nearly 60 years, they have played key roles in meeting Oahu’s energy needs during periods of significant growth on the island and in assuring safe, reliable electric service in downtown Honolulu," according to a news release from HECO.

HECO’s sources of renewable energy generation on Oahu include a biofuel-fired power plant at Campbell Industrial Park, the City and County’s HPOWER waste-to-energy facility, two wind farms owned and operated by First Wind, several utility-scale solar facilities and more than 23,000 photovoltaic systems on customers’ rooftops.

HECO also is seeking permission from the Public Utilities Commission to pursue five more renewable energy projects on Oahu with a combined capacity of 64 megawatts.

As of mid-2013, more than 18 percent of the electricity used by customers of the three Hawaiian Electric Industries utilities — HECO, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light — comes from renewable resources, exceeding the state’s 2015 goal of 15 percent.