First Wind completes Kaheawa Wind II project in Hawaii

First Wind completes Kaheawa Wind II project in Hawaii

Greentech Lead America: First Wind, an independent wind
energy company, announced that construction of the 21 MW Kaheawa Wind II
project has been completed and commercial operations have begun.

Kaheawa Wind I project achieved commercial operations in
June 2006. The Kaheawa Wind II project is going commercial almost exactly six
years later. Combined projects will generate 51 MW of clean energy,
enough power for 18,700 Maui homes annually.

“We now have projects in operation in five different
states, but Hawaii has always shown a unique understanding and true leadership
when it comes to developing home-grown sources of energy. The expansion of our
Kaheawa Wind project supports the state’s aggressive renewable energy goals by
providing an additional source of cost-competitive and clean electricity to the
residents and businesses of Maui,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of First Wind.   

Kaheawa Wind II features an innovative battery energy
storage system to assist in meeting performance standards and smoothing
fluctuations in wind energy output. Kaheawa Wind II is First Wind’s thirteenth
wind facility to go online in six years.

The power produced by both phases of the Kaheawa Wind
project is the equivalent of decreasing carbon dioxide emissions by over
126,000 metric tons annually.

RMT, which began construction on Kaheawa Wind II in 2011,
oversaw all civil and electrical infrastructure including a 34.5/69-kV
substation, 34.5 kV electrical collection system, and interconnection to the 69
kV Maui Electric Company (MECO) transmission line.

As part of Kaheawa Wind I, First Wind implemented the
first-ever Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for a utility-scale wind project.
The HCP was developed to ensure a long-term net conservation benefit is
provided for three state and federally listed threatened and endangered bird
species and the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat, which could be affected by the
project.

First Wind wins $236 million fund for Hawaii’s largest wind
project

Recently, First Wind secured $236 million in
financing for its 69 megawatt (MW) Kawailoa Wind project on Kamehameha Schools’
Kawailoa Plantation lands on Oahu’s North Shore. A subsidiary of First Wind
closed a $220 million non-recourse construction and term loan and $16 million
in letters of credit for the Kawailoa project.

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