Posted on: Tuesday, March 4, 2003

Maui wind farm contract goes to California firms

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau

In the competition to build a wind farm on Maui, a proposal by a pair of California-based companies won out over an upstart Hawai'i firm.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday authorized Chairman Peter Young to issue a land lease to General Electric Wind Energy Corp. of Tehachapi, Calif., and Hawi Renewable Development Inc. of Chico, Calif.

The panel made its decision after Land Division Administrator Diedre Mamiya said the joint venture was more likely to create a successful wind energy project sooner than Hawai'i Wind Energy LLC of Honolulu.

In making her recommendation, Mamiya said the GE Wind/Hawi proposal has years of wind data, secured financing and an application to sell power to Maui Electric Co. that is further along.

GE Wind/Hawi plans a 20-megawatt project with 30 wind turbines mounted between the 2,000- and 3,200-foot levels on Kealaloloa Ridge above Ma'alaea. GE Wind will provide technical assistance, while Hawi will handle construction and facility management.

Wind turbines have been proposed for the gently sloping ridge since the mid-1980s. In April 2000, the BLNR issued a permit to Zond Pacific, which was planning a $30 million project.

But an energy sale agreement with Maui Electric never materialized, and the Enron Corp., which acquired Zond Pacific from parent Zond Systems Inc., eventually placed the division under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. General Electric Power Systems ended up buying it, placing it under its newly created General Electric Wind Energy Corp.

Meanwhile, wind farm construction on Maui never got under way, and the permit expired after one year.

With the project in limbo, Hawai'i Wind Energy stepped forward to submit its own proposal for the site, using Zond Pacific's environmental impact statement.

GE Wind Energy Corp. also submitted another application, saying it would work with Hawi Renewable Development.