SunEdison, a renewable-energy company owning two wind farms in Maui, gave attendees of the Maui Energy Conference on Friday a look at how energy storage can provide value for electrical utilities.
Energy storage is a resource that would help Hawaii get to its 100 percent renewable future, said Connie Lau, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Industries, at the conference Thursday.
"If storage is going to happen anywhere, it is going to happen first in Hawaii," Lau said.
Belmont, Calif.-based SunEdison showed on the final day of the three-day event how its wind farm puts the idea of energy storage into practice as it uses a battery to help reliably produce 10 percent of Maui’s electricity.
The Kaheawa Wind Farm in the West Maui Mountains has the capacity to provide 51 megawatts of wind power for Maui.
In a tour of the facility consisting of 34 wind turbines, the company showed how the renewable energy linked with batteries can be one solution for Maui Electric Co.
SunEdison’s wind farm is the largest renewable independent power producer on the island, and, when combined with batteries, it can help regulate the second-largest producer. Consumer rooftop solar panels produce 40 megawatts of energy on Maui.
SunEdison helps the utility adapt to the fluctuating renewable power sources, said Ryan Pierce, regional operations manager for SunEdison.
"The battery supports the frequency for the whole island," Pierce said in a presentation. "We’re regulating the system for Maui."
The battery helps regulate the variability when the wind gusts quickly and dies down just as fast. As the technology helps the wind farm, it in turn makes the grid more stable by providing energy when variable solar comes offline.
