Biofuel/Natural Gas Power Plant Set for U.S. Army Facility in Hawaii

Researched by Industrial Info Resources , (Sugar Land, Texas)--Hawaiian Electric Company (Honolulu) plans to build a 50-megawatt (MW), biofuel-capable power plant at a U.S. Army facility in Wahaiwa, Hawaii. The public has until June 8 to file comments on a draft environmental impact statement for the project, to be built at the Army's Schofield Barracks site.

The Army will lease 10.3 acres of land for the plant and 2.5 acres of interconnection easement on Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield. A 2-mile, 46-kilovolt (kV) transmission line will run between the Schofield Barracks site and Hawaiian Electric's Wahiawa substation and grid.

Hawaiian Electric will own the facility and transmission lines, and provide construction, operation and maintenance when the plant goes online.

The plant will be able to switch between biodiesel and natural gas as fuel sources. It will allow the Army and Hawaiian Electric to access a secure source of power and help the state of Hawaii achieve renewable energy goals.

Hawaiian Electric picked Tetra Tech (NASDAQ:TTEK) (Pasadena, California) as its environmental consultant and will be reviewing the public comments. When all permits are secured, Quanta Power Generation (Greenwood Village, Colorado), a subsidiary of Quanta Services Incorporated (NYSE:PWR) (Houston, Texas), will act as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the estimated $60 million project.

The plant will consist of six biodiesel/natural gas-fired, 8.4-MW Wartsila 20V34DF internal combustion generators, with selective catalytic reduction technology. The generators will comply with current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.

Construction is expected to begin in second-quarter 2016, with completion by late 2017.

The environmental statement for the project will evaluate the effects of the proposed action on land use; airspace use; visual resources; air quality, noise; traffic and transportation; water resources; geology and soils; biological resources; cultural resources; hazardous and toxic substances; socioeconomics; and utilities and infrastructure.

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