Hawaiian Electric looks to ethanol to meet new electricity needs

Hawaiian Electric looks to ethanol to meet new electricity needs

Birmingham, Alabama (Platts)--22Mar2006

Hawaiian Electric Co. has decided to burn ethanol in its proposed 110-MW
power plant on the island of Oahu and has sought fuel supply offers from
ethanol producers, it said Wednesday.

The plant, which, when it was announced, was to have burnt naphtha, has
been proposed in order to meet Hawaii's 3% load growth and peaking needs,
officials said.

But the Hawaii Public Utility Commission and Governor Linda Lingle are
pushing the use of more renewable fuel sources and less dependency on imported
oil for power generation. Other islands are using wind power to reduce their
reliance on imported oil, but Oahu has land restrictions that make wind farm
more difficult to develop.

The proposed $135 million plant would use locally produced ethanol. The
utility also is investigating the use of an ethanol-diesel blend for use in
existing diesel-fired generating units, Mike May, Hawaiian Electric's
president and CEO, said.

"Renewable ethanol represents a clear opportunity to grow a significant
portion of our own fuel locally and begin to break the hold imported fuels
have on us," May said.

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