Energy project in crosswinds of commerce
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
The proposed development of a wind farm on Maui has proved to be as tricky and erratic as, well, the wind.
But the project isn't dead despite bankruptcy proceedings, personnel changes and a few corporate power plays that saw original developer Zond Pacific Inc. acquired by Enron Wind Corp. and then sold to a General Electric company.
Far from it. Now two firms are vying for the right to erect wind turbines on a blustery ridge above Ma'alaea.
In an unusual move following the expiration of the original conservation district use permit last year, both Hawai'i Wind Energy LLC of Honolulu and General Electric Wind Energy Corp. of Tehachapi, Calif., have stepped forward with proposals to complete the same project, albeit with some modifications.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is processing applications from both companies and is planning a public hearing on the projects in January, said Sam Lemmo, senior planner with the Land Division.
In addition, the Board of Land and Natural Resources is expected to take up the issue at its Nov. 15 meeting on Maui.
In development stages since the mid-1980s, the project evolved into a $30 million proposal to generate up to 20 megawatts of electricity from 27 wind turbines mounted on 164-foot towers between the 2,000- and 3,200-foot levels in a gently sloping area known as Kaheawa Pastures on Kealaloloa Ridge.
The state Land Board issued a permit to Zond Pacific in April 2000 after its proposal was well received by Maui residents attracted to alternatives to fossil fuel.
But an energy-sale agreement with Maui Electric Co. never materialized, and Zond Pacific chief Keith Avery left the company. The embattled Enron Corp., which earlier acquired Zond Pacific from parent Zond Systems Inc., eventually placed the division under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and General Electric Power Systems ended up buying it, placing it under its newly created General Electric Wind Energy Corp.
Meanwhile, construction never commenced on Maui, and the permit expired after one year.
With the project in limbo, wind company veteran Brian Hayashida and a trio of engineers formed Hawai'i Wind Energy LLC, which submitted its own proposal for the Kaheawa Pastures site using Zond Pacific's environmental impact statement — a huge shortcut in the process, one that became available because the document is in the public domain once it was submitted to DLNR.
According to its application, Hawai'i Wind Energy wants to generate up to 19.8 megawatts using 33 wind turbines instead of the originally proposed 27. The additional turbines would be placed in a row west of the existing project site.
The difference is that the turbines are smaller, producing 600 kilowatts each rather than 750 kilowatts. Hayashida said the smaller turbines would result in less of a visual impact.
With a general contractor and a wind turbine vendor on board, the company's plan is to use federal tax credits to build the wind farm no later than the end of 2003.
GE Wind Energy Corp., meanwhile, submitted its own application, saying it would sell its interest to Hawi Renewable Development Inc. of Chico, Calif. The proposal describes 30 turbines producing 660 kilowatts each.
Hayashida, whose experience includes developing a wind farm on the Big Island, said his company doesn't believe that GE, with its stated intention to sell, is a bona fide applicant.
"We don't think it should be speculating with Hawai'i's important resources,'' he said.
But Tim Derrick, business development manager with GE Wind Energy Corp., said his company owns the rightful claim to the project in both "a philosophical and legal sense.'' He said the company has invested more than $1 million trying to bring wind-generated power to Maui.
"Anyone who would assert that we are profiting in (an unethical way) would be dead wrong,'' he said.
Derrick said GE's main focus is selling wind turbines, so the decision was made to sell the project to a company that could see it through. He said the sale to Hawi is in the final stages.
In any case, GE has an advantage over its competitor because, among other things, it retains Zond Pacific's documented history of wind at the Keheawa Pastures site, Derrick said.
Whomever is chosen for the project, Maui Electric Co. remains eager to work out an arrangement to buy the wind power, said Lynne Unemori, company spokesperson.
Reach Timothy Hurley at (808) 244-4880 or thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
