Hawaii’s main utility has announced the winners of its groundbreaking procurement of utility-scale solar backed by battery storage, with developers AES Corp., Clearway Energy, 174 Power Global, and Innergex securing projects at unprecedented prices that would add 262MW of PV and 1,048MWh of storage capacity to the state’s grid.

The US has around 1.4GWh of installed battery storage capacity today, according to Wood Mackenzie.

The prices range from 12 cents per kWh for a 15MW solar/60MWh storage from Innergex to just 8 cents per kWh for a 90MW solar/360MWh storage project from AES, the latter representing a steep drop on previous pricing in Hawaii.

Hawaiian Electric Industries, whose various utilities supply 95% of Hawaii’s power, said the pricing is the lowest ever seen for renewables in the state. Hawaii depends on imported fossil fuels for about 90% of its energy, with an average price of around 15 cents per kWh. It easily has the country’s highest electricity prices.

The winning solar-plus-storage projects must now be approved by the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

An eighth project – for a 12.5MW solar array with 50MWh of storage – is expected to be submitted to the PUC in the coming weeks, potentially adding further to the tally.

AES Corp. has long been a leader in distributed solar and storage, in 2017 launching the storage-focused Fluence joint venture with Germany’s Siemens. Clearway Energy was formed last year after Global Infrastructure Partners acquired NRG Energy’s renewables development platform and yieldco.

174 Power Global is the US-based solar development arm of Korea’s Hanwha group, while Canada’s Innergex is active in a number of renewables markets across North America and Europe.

Innergex said its two projects will have 25-year fixed-price deals with Hawaiian Electric, with its installations due on line in 2022 on the islands of Hawaii and Maui.

“With these two important and unique projects in Hawaii, we are excited to enter the growing and promising battery energy storage market, in which we intend to become a key player,” says Michel Letellier, chief executive of Quebec-based Innergex.

As the price of batteries falls, both developers and utility off-takers are growing increasingly comfortable with pairing wind and solar projects with storage, allowing for the injection of renewable power onto the grid at times of still wind or after the sun has set.

Hawaii is unique among US states in that it has a 100% mandate for clean electric power by 2045 that must be met exclusively with renewables.

Policymakers in Hawaii are looking for innovative approaches to generate clean electricity in an era of global warming.

Experts warn that Hawaii face impacts from climate change that threaten its economy, ocean views, unique ecosystems and beach-oriented lifestyles. These include coral bleaching, marine habitat and shoreline loss, and ocean acidification.

Transition

Hawaii to add 1GWh of storage in landmark procurement