Farming sunshine

KEKAHA — Abundant Westside sunshine could potentially save the island from importing 1 million gallons of diesel annually, Pacific Light & Power CEO Dick Roth said.

The Anahola-based development company is proposing to build a 10-megawatt concentrated solar thermal power plant on some 100 acres of “sub-optimal” agricultural land between Kekaha and Waimea, he said Wednesday.

“This island needs its own source of energy,” he said. “It’s become a really critical need.”

Different from photovoltaic systems which use light from the sun to create electricity, solar thermal systems capture the sun’s heat. More efficient and less expensive, it’s like using a magnifying glass to start a fire, Roth said.

Multiple rows of 18-foot tall mirrors capture the sun’s heat, warming a fluid located in tubes which run above the solar collectors or troughs. This 750 degree heated fluid is moved to a heat exchanger that boils water under pressure, generating steam which drives the turbine, thereby creating electricity for the local grid.

The advantages are profound, Roth said.

Offsetting 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year from fossil fuels, the solar thermal farm would implement clean, renewable energy from the sun, he said.

Farming sunlight into electricity for about 8,000 single-family residences is a big step in regaining our energy independence and reducing our carbon footprint, said Pacific Light & Power spokesperson Canen Ho‘okano.

It’s a totally “benign process,” he said, adding there is no need for fuel and emissions are nonexistent. While the solar plant would only operate during daylight hours, Ho‘okano said they are working on furthering storage capabilities.

Support from Westside residents has been “outstanding” thus far, said Ho‘okano, who has been spearheading community outreach by meeting with schools and neighborhood associations on the sunny side of the island.

“I’m supportive of any effort to get off our dependency on imported fossil fuels,” said Jose Bulatao Jr., community activist and long-time Kekaha resident.

The project looks good on paper, but it might be a different story when it comes to actuality, he said, adding that it would be the first of its kind in the Pacific Region.

The community needs to feel embraced and involved in their presence, Bulatao said.

Westside activist Bruce Pleas agreed. “I’m all for stuff like this,” he said last month. However, Pleas also expressed concerns including the project’s location and potential effects it could have on the immediate residential neighborhood.

With technology that is “benevolent,” there would be no negative impacts on the community, Roth said. For example, noise would be minimal — a “little hum” of cooling fans. In addition, proper landscaping would help conceal the solar farm in order to “mitigate view issues.”

Though official land leases with the Knudsen family and Kikiaola Land Company have not been finalized yet, a signed letter of intent with Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative has been completed and Pacific Light & Power is “on track” to have a Purchase Power Agreement by the end of January, Roth said.

“We’re hoping to be shovel ready by the end of next year,” Ho‘okano said.

This means that by 2012, approximately 20 percent of the island’s power needs could be furnished by the Westside project, Roth said.

Not only that, but as many as 300 jobs could be generated for an assembly plant on island, plus another 10 for operations and maintenance, he said.

KIUC would “very much like to see it come” to fruition, KIUC President and CEO Randall Hee said. There are many steps that still need to take place, but Hee said he is in full support of any project that makes economic sense for the island.

“Hopefully we get some of these on stream before oil prices skyrocket,” he said Wednesday, regarding the multiple energy projects currently underway, including Pacific West’s proposed 20-watt biomass-to-energy power plant.

“I hope they can fast track it,” Bulatao said regarding the solar project. “I’m holding them to their word to be in close touch.”

• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.