Last week, the Hawaian Electric Companies began Hawai's largest procurement effort 
for renewable energy resources to end the use of coal and reduce reliance on imported oil for 
power generation, moving the state closer to its goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.

With the approval of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the companies today issued 

requests for proposals for renewable energy and grid services from developers locally and globally.

Approximately 900 megawatts of new renewables or renewables paired with storage - generating about 
2 million megawatt-hours annually - are sought. It is among the largest single renewable energy 
procurements undertaken by a U.S. utility, said the companies.

This includes estimated targets of technologies equal to 594 MW of solar for O'ahu, 135 MW for 
Maui and up to 203 MW for Hawai'i Island, depending on whether other renewable energy projects 
are available on that island.

Projects for Maui must include energy storage. On Hawai'i Island, solar must include storage but 
is optional for other technologies. On O'ahu, pairing generation with energy storage is optional. 
Storage on O'ahu and Maui is also being sought to replace firm generating units. This can be 
provided by renewable generation paired with storage or standalone storage. Contingency storage 
is also being sought for O'ahu and Hawai'i islands.

For O'ahu, new renewable generation and storage is needed to replace the 180-megawatt coal-fired 
AES Hawaii plant in Campbell Industrial Park due to close by September 2022. It is the largest 
single generator on O'ahu, meeting 16 percent of peak demand.

For Maui, new renewable generation and storage is needed for the planned retirement of Kahului 
Power Plant by the end of 2024.

Source renewableenergyworld.com