Virtual power plant coming to Maui and other islands
This article was originally posted by Maui News on 23rd June 2021.Energy Conference covers new green energy program with HECO
A newer, greener way of thinking about power plants is about to hit home for thousands of residents on Maui, Oahu and Hawaii island.
By installing behind-the-meter, solar-powered home batteries, 6,000 homeowners may provide the real estate for an aggregated virtual power plant, which promises to drop Hawaiian Electric Co. bills for participants, according to energy officials.
“Put simply, a virtual power plant is an an aggregated network of distributed solar and energy storage resources that can be centrally controlled by a grid operator and an aggregator instead, or in the place of, a traditional centralized power plant,” Swell Energy Inc. CEO Suleman Khan said during the keynote speech at Hawaii Energy Conference on Tuesday morning.
Typically held in person on Maui prior to the pandemic, the Hawaii Energy Conference, now in its eighth year, gathers regional and national experts on energy policy, strategies, leadership and innovation to present for hundreds of attendees across various industries. This year’s virtual event kicked off Tuesday and continues Thursday.
In January, the state Public Utilities Commission approved the $25 million contract for Swell Energy, a California-based energy and grid services provider, to partner with Hawaiian Electric for the delivery of various grid services.
Slated to begin this summer, the program will deliver more than 25 megawatts of solar power paired with over 80 MW of batteries and 100 megawatt hours of stored energy, delivering capacity and frequency response to the three island grids while also reducing bills for participating customers.
