A day after equipment failures prompted rotating power outages for some 26,000 customers, Hawaii Electric Light Co. said Sunday that Hawaii island residents can again expect uninterrupted service during peak hours.
On Saturday afternoon a combustion turbine unit at the Keahole plant shut down due to problems with its water system. Two hours later fuel system problems caused another combustion turbine unit at Keahole to shut down.
The failures were compounded by the unavailability of other power sources. A steam turbine unit owned by Hamakua Energy Partners, an independent power producer, was undergoing repairs; another HELCO combustion turbine was also being overhauled; and a Puna steam unit was on standby status and could not be started in time.
HELCO crews spent much of Saturday and Sunday repairing a combustion turbine at its Kanoelehua facility, returning the unit to service three days ahead of schedule. Crews also repaired one of the Keahole units and activated the Puna steam generator.
“We want all of our customers to know we are truly sorry for disruption caused by (Saturday’s) power interruptions,” HELCO spokeswoman Rhea Lee-Moku said in a statement Sunday. “Crews worked hard to repair generation units to get them back on-line, but we just weren’t able to make it in time.”
The daily evening peak usage period is from 5 to 9 p.m., with the highest demand between 6 and 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, an outage left about 990 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in Manoa without electricity on Sunday.
The outage, believed to have been caused by fallen tree limbs damaging HECO equipment, was first reported around 10:20 a.m. HECO crews were able to restore power to all affected residences by 3:05 p.m.
Search for diver halted by county and Coast Guard
The Coast Guard and Hawaii County Fire Department have suspended the search for 69-year-old Diana Wolking, who was last seen diving near Puako Beach on the Big Island.
“To suspend an active search and rescue case without definitive resolution is one of the most difficult decisions to make,” said Capt. Shannon Gilreath, Coast Guard Sector Honolulu commanding officer, in a statement Saturday. “We saturated the area in attempt to locate Ms. Wolking, but pending further developments, we have decided to suspend the active search. Our prayers go out to her loved ones.”
Officials presumed Wolking was swept out to sea while diving.
Coast Guard and fire rescue crews searched approximately 3,000 square miles for Wolking, who was last seen entering the water at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Students and others help fix voyaging canoe
KOHALA, Hawaii >> A nonprofit group has enlisted the help of community members to rebuild a canoe called Makalii.
West Hawaii Today reports that more than 100 students and community members joined one of the original builders, Mike Manu, as well as senior captain and navigator Chadd Paishon and the Waimea-based Na Kalai Waa voyaging group Saturday in repairing the canoe.
Makalii was built in the mid-1990s. The goal is to put the vessel back in the sea for future voyages.
Apprentices and high school students were sanding, shaping and lacquering the wood that will form supports and crossbeams. The 54-foot vessel is getting new gunwales, railings and deck, and having its Fiberglas hulls refurbished.
