By Greentech Lead America: Hawaiian Electric Company has
awarded an additional three-year biodiesel contract to Renewable Energy Group
(REG), the nation’s largest biodiesel producer. The new contract will take
effect when the present contract ends in July 2012. Hawaii Public Utilities
Commission has approved the contract.
This is REG’s third awarded contract for sustainable
biodiesel for Hawaiian Electric’s 110-megawatt combustion turbine generator at
Campbell Industrial Park Generating Station.
The new contract allows REG continue to supply three to
seven million gallons of high quality biodiesel for the Campbell Industrial
Park Generating Station annually. The plant is the nation’s first utility-scale
combustion turbine run entirely on 100 percent biodiesel.
Renewable Energy Group is converting natural fats, oils
and greases into advanced biofuels.
REG must conform to environmental guidelines for
sustainable production and use of biofuels that were developed by Hawaiian
Electric in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Biodiesel utilization in electric power generation
is an important step in helping our country make a move to renewable-based
electricity. Most U.S. states now have policies or goals for electric power to
be sourced from renewable resources or advanced biofuels, like biodiesel,”
said Gary Haer, vice president, sales and marketing at REG.
Hawaii has Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)
requirements or goals in effect. These policies are designed to replace
annually increasing proportions of energy with renewable resources. Hawaii’s
current RPS requirement is to reach 40 percent renewable energy by 2030.
“Renewable biofuel is an important part of our
diverse mix of clean energy resources. This contract allows us to continue
running one of our own generating stations on a green fuel and further
establishes Hawaii as a serious biofuel market,” said Robbie Alm, Hawaiian
Electric executive vice president.
Honeywell
helps Hawaiian Electric reduce dependence on fossil fuel
Hawaiian Electric Co and Honeywell signed an agreement
for a pilot program to demonstrate how demand response technology can help
integrate more intermittent renewable energy to the electric grid. The two-year
pilot will feature a test of “fast demand response” (Fast DR)
technology, which gives the utility and facilities the tools to reduce demand
within 10 minutes of notification of a pending imbalance between supply and
demand.
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editor@greentechlead.com