To meet its goal of adding more renewable generation to the Oahu grid, Hawaiian Electric Co. is seeking proposals for one or more large-scale energy storage systems able to store 60 MW to 200 MW for up to 30 minutes.
The utility says large-scale wind and solar projects are continuing to be built in Oahu, and rooftop solar is now in use by more than 11% of its customers; therefore, energy storage is needed to help ride through sudden changes in availability of these variable resources.
Potential contractors will be evaluated on the overall cost of their proposals and non-price factors, such as design concept and feasibility, implementation, and operational viability. Hawaiian Electric says it invites bidders to propose the best-available technologies, including batteries, mechanical flywheels, capacitors, compressed gas systems, pumped hydro storage or a combination of such technologies.
Any project selected with a cost of $2.5 million or more must be reviewed and approved by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with input from the Consumer Advocate. Hawaiian Electric says it aims to complete and file energy storage agreements with the PUC by year-end. Bidders must provide a schedule with the goal of having the system in service in the first quarter of 2017.
The deadline for proposals is July 21. More information is available here.
