HECO Web site
identifies areas
for wind farms
Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Web site now includes new wind resource maps of Oahu to help identify the best sites for future wind farms.
The maps detail which way winds blow on Oahu -- and how powerfully, according to Karl Stahlkopf, HECO senior vice president for energy solutions.
"They were done with some very good technology that's been developed in the last three or four years," he said. "Existing wind-resource maps for Hawaii were developed over 20 years ago."
High-resolution wind-resource maps for Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai can be seen at renewables.heco.com.
HECO, the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory funded development of the maps. Maps of Kauai and the Big Island are expected within months, Stahlkopf said.
Posted on the Web site are color-coded maps that estimate wind speeds and power densities of the wind at a height of 165 feet from the ground.
On Oahu, high-wind speeds were at Kahuku and on the ridgelines of the Pali and Waianae mountain ranges, but one pocket of high-wind speeds was unexpected.
"Makakilo looks like it has significant wind resources," Stahlkopf said. "We really didn't know that resource was there."
Meanwhile, HECO's subsidiary, Renewable Hawaii, is seeking proposals for renewable energy projects on Oahu using solar, wind, hydro, biomass, ocean or geothermal energy to produce electricity. Renewable Hawaii has $10 million to invest as a minority partner in ventures that meet its requirements, said Stahlkopf, who is the sole employee of the subsidiary.
"We want to help the state of Hawaii increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable resources as quickly as possible," he said.
The deadline for Oahu proposals is Aug. 22. Projects on other islands will be solicited later. Information about making a proposal is available at www.renewablehawaii.com.
Stahlkopf can be reached at 543-7656.