In Hawaii, the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has received a $110M loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as part of a $2.9 billion package of loan guarantees that will will benefit more than 183,000 rural electric cooperative consumers and includes over $310 million invested in renewable energy. The Kauai Island Cooperative in Hawaii project includes nearly $73 million for hydro plant improvements, plus a 10 MW naphtha/biodiesel fueled combustion turbine.
The State of Hawaii is working on a Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative that targets 70% clean energy by 2030 (40% renewable energy supply). KIUC voluntarily participates in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, and in its strategic plan highlights “the added benefit of not exporting Hawaii dollars in exchange for energy supplies and favors keeping those dollars in Hawaii and especially on Kauai.” At the same time, the utility recognizes “the shift to local, sustainable sources of energy also impacts KIUC’s transmission and distribution infrastructure as sustainable energy sources do not necessarily coincide with the location of Kaua`i’s higher population and higher energy use areas. Intermittent resources like photovoltaic solar generators will need some mitigation effort to ensure that the circuits that they tie into remain stable.”
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