Hawaiian Electric seeks ITC-eligible wind projects on Oahu
January 10 (SeeNews) – Hawaiian Electric Co Inc is seeking information from developers about potential onshore wind projects on the island of Oahu that can take advantage of the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC).
The company wants to obtain projects that will lower costs for customers and help it achieve its goal of 100% renewable energy, it said last week as it issued the Request for Expressions of Interest (EoI).
Hawaiian Electric noted that a resource potential study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has identified the utility-scale wind potential on Oahu as significantly lower in comparison to Maui and Hawaii Island. One of the aims of the EoI is to determine if Oahu’s wind potential is as limited as identified in the NREL report.
“If the capacity for onshore wind on Oʻahu is in fact limited, then it is important to identify projects able to take advantage of the federal ITC, as the scarcity of available project sites and no federal ITC infers that the price for onshore wind projects on Oʻahu in the future may be higher,” the company says in the document.
The ITC for eligible large wind projects is scheduled to gradually decline through the end of 2019 and projects that start construction in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 may be eligible to get an ITC of 30%, 24%, 18% and 12% respectively.
An onshore wind questionnaire is due from respondents by the end of January.