Young Bros. teams up with Hoku
The partnership allows the shipping company to buy renewable energy
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Kapolei-based alternative-energy technology developer Hoku Scientific Inc. will install a 224-kilowatt photovoltaic system this year on the roof a Young Brothers Ltd. maintenance building in Honolulu.
The interisland ocean shipper will buy the electricity from Hoku, which would own and operate the system, at an undisclosed predetermined rate over 20 years.
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Interisland ocean shipper
Young Brothers Ltd. said yesterday it will purchase power from a 224-kilowatt photovoltaic system to be installed by
Hoku Scientific Inc. on the roof of its maintenance building at Honolulu's Pier 39 and 40.
Hoku, a Kapolei-based alternative-energy technology developer, will install a 224-kilowatt photovoltaic system on the 25,000-square-foot rooftop. Young Brothers will buy the electricity from Hoku, which would own and operate the system, at an undisclosed predetermined rate over 20 years.
"This is a great partnership that allows Young Brothers to take advantage of renewable energy at a predictable rate, with no upfront costs," Glenn Hong, president of Young Brothers, said in a statement. "This initiative will lend greater stability to our future energy costs for the benefit of our customers and the environment."
Hoku subsidiary Hoku Solar Inc. plans to complete the installation this year if it can obtain third-party financing.
The system will produce enough electricity in 20 years to power roughly 800 homes for a year, offsetting more than 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Dustin Shindo, chairman and chief executive of Hoku, said in May he expects revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2009 to be $15 million to $18 million, coming "almost entirely" from solar photovoltaic installation, with full operation of Hoku's planned Idaho polysilicon plant not expected until the first half of 2010.
Hoku Solar, which sells and installs turnkey photovoltaic power systems in Hawaii, earned $1.9 million in the six months ended March 31.
In January, Hoku announced plans to build a solar power plant near Campbell Industrial Park that will be capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of photovoltaic power to begin operation at the end of this year. It follows a 1.5-megawatt, 10-acre solar project announced by Castle & Cooke Inc. last June for Lanai.
Hoku is also working on installing a 218-kilowatt solar power system at Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Ward Avenue substation, as well as projects with Paradise Beverages Inc. and Bank of Hawaii.