Written by by Richard Storm at wattsupwiththat.com
“Thank you Hawaii Electric for providing this outstanding example of applied renewables. My state of South Carolina and neighboring states are planning similar renewables plus battery storage. Your experiences are helpful.”
President Biden’s EPA is working to accelerate the shutdown of coal plants across the U.S. and to force the demise of Internal Combustion Engine. This is about as Un-American as anything I have ever heard or read.
On the issue of shutting down coal plants and replacing with renewables, Hawaii comes to mind as an outstanding experiment. In 2020 I wrote how this would be a “Glimpse Into the Future of the ‘Green New Deal’.” Well, now we are there. The last coal plant in Hawaii was shut down, they installed much generation capacity in renewables and added the largest, or at least one of the largest, Battery Storage Systems in the world. How has it worked out? Here is an update of my June 2020 Blog.
Huge Kapolei Battery Plant Replaces Coal at Hawaii Electric“
That is the headline of the Canary Media in December 2023. Here is the background as reported in an American Civil Engineering Society article, by Jay Landers:
Among U.S. states, Hawaii has some of the most ambitious mandates for shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources to generate electricity. To achieve these mandates, the state aims to rely heavily on battery energy storage systems to provide backup power when intermittent sources such as solar and wind are insufficient or unavailable. On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, a large and sophisticated battery energy storage system recently came online, marking a key point in the state’s efforts to move toward a future of 100% renewable energy.