Delivery of Kahuku wind turbine parts complete

The last of the large turbine parts for the planned Na Pua Makani wind farm project in Kahuku arrived Wednesday, developer AES Corp. announced.

“We have completed transport for Na Pua Makani ahead of schedule and will continue to work towards helping Hawaii achieve its 100% renewable energy future,” Mark Miller, chief operating officer of the AES U.S. Generation businesses, said in an emailed statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “The project will be operational, producing wind energy for the island of Oahu, on schedule in the summer of 2020.

“We are deeply grateful to HPD (Honolulu Police Department) and DOT (state Department of Transportation) for their professionalism and dedication in ensuring the roads were safe for everyone during our transport process. No further road closures for the project are scheduled at this time,” Miller said.

The hauling of equipment for eight wind turbines from Kalaeloa to Kahuku began in mid-October. AES initially estimated the transport of turbine parts would continue until Nov. 26.

Police have made 200 arrests of protesters, opponents of the project said, including 21 overnight, who were trying to block the convoy from traveling across the island five nights a week starting on Oct. 17.

Kamalani Keliikuli of Ku Kia‘i Kahuku, a group that opposes the planned Na Pua Makani wind farm, said the group plans to continue its battle against the project now that the delivery of the large turbine parts to Kahuku is completed.

“Even though the transport is over, we are still fighting it,” Keliikuli said.

Demonstrations at Kalaeloa and Kahuku have been the face of the opposition for the last month or so, but community members have taken legal action against the project, and those efforts are continuing.

One involves environmental group Life of the Land, which filed a claim with the state looking to invalidate the 2013 power purchase agreement between the Hawaiian Electric Co. and the wind project, in part arguing that the Public Utilities Commission failed to properly consider the project’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The next hearing for the claim will take place at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the PUC Hearing Room on South King Street.

The nonprofit Keep the North Shore Country (KNSC) has also filed a lawsuit against the state Board of Land and Natural Resources because of its decision to approve a conservation plan regarding the wind project and its allowed carnage or “take” of indigenous hoary bats, saying it has failed to minimize the impacts on the endangered species.

“There are so many problems with this project — I don’t think anything’s resolved yet,” said Gil Riviere, a director for KNSC and a state senator.

The protesters were unsuccessful in their attempts to stop the convoys of trucks carrying turbine parts, although opponents of the wind project see silver linings in their efforts.

“I see people coming together as community members. … Everybody’s coming together,” said Nakia Naeole, who has served as an alaka‘i, or leader, of the peaceful demonstrations in Kalaeloa since they began.

Naole said he’s never seen the level of community involvement that has stemmed from the protests.

“I think what it shows right now is the people’s resolve to correct wrongs if the government can’t do it,” he said.

“This experience has birthed new leaders, re-awakened dormant passions, united rivals and allowed us to see our true worth as a community,” said Joshua Kaina, a Kahuku community member, in a statement. “For the past month, a lot of really good people put their reputations on the line, and we will see to it that their sacrifices were not in vain.”

Opponents said that they hope to talk with legislators as they continue to fight the project.