Heco picks Campbell
for new power plant
It may be needed before 2009
By Jerry Tune
Star-BulletinHawaiian Electric Co. wants to build its next power plant on land at Campbell Industrial Park adjacent to the Chevron refinery.
The oil-fired, 318-megawatt plant would be built in three phases, with total construction costs at an estimated $202 million (figured in 1997 dollars), the company said.
Heco must get approvals from the state Department of Health and Public Utilities Commission, a process that could take four years. Construction would take about two years, Heco said.
Based on Oahu's power demands, the utility estimates that the first phase will be needed by 2009. But Brenner Munger, the company's manager of planning and engineering for power supply, said the first phase might be needed a year earlier if Heco's energy-efficiency program is hurt by the loss of state tax credits. (See related story above.)
The new plant originally was pegged for 2003 but Hawaiian Electric changed that estimate after it embarked on a 20-year energy-efficiency program called the "Integrated Resource Plan." This plan, approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, allows Heco to invest money to encourage use of energy-efficient products, such as solar water-heating systems.
The current proposed site for the new plant comes after an earlier idea for an oil and coal plant at Barbers Point Naval Air Station was rejected by the commission dealing with reuse of the base after the Navy leaves next year.
Heco also had considered another plant at Kahe but that was not pursued because of federal air quality standards.
The new plant's $96 million first phase would generate 107 megawatts of electricity with a "simple cycle combustion turbine," which is similar to large jet engines.
The $40 million second phase in 2013 would be another 107 megawatt combustion turbine unit, and the $66 million third phase in 2016 would be a 104 megawatt "combined cycle, combustion turbine," which generates power by capturing the waste heat from the first two phases and generating steam.
The combustion turbines can use a variety of fuels including the heavy residual oil produced by Chevron and BHP, he said.
By phasing the new power units in "smaller bites" the overall cost of the plant is reduced, Munger said.
The new plant would be on part of a 19-acre site used for the Barber's Point tank farm and is zoned for industrial use.
