WAIMEA — Koke‘e Ditch, built in the 1920s by Kekaha Sugar Corp. to irrigate sugar cane crops, is an integral part of two energy developers’ competing plans for Kaua‘i hydroelectric projects on Hawai‘i’s state lands managed by the Department of
WAIMEA — Koke‘e Ditch, built in the 1920s by Kekaha Sugar Corp. to irrigate sugar cane crops, is an integral part of two energy developers’ competing plans for Kaua‘i hydroelectric projects on Hawai‘i’s state lands managed by the Department of Agriculture.
Pacific Light & Power of Kaua‘i and Free Flow Power of Massachusetts have filed competing requests with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Both projects propose the use of Koke‘e Ditch and Pu‘u Lua Reservoir within Waimea Canyon State Park, and both would provide power for Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative.
Pu‘u Lua Power Project,
Konohiki Hydro Power LLC
Paolo Luckett, president and CEO of PLP, said his energy development company began scoping Koke‘e Ditch’s potential for hydro in 2009 after Landis Ignacio, the primary representative of Kekaha Agriculture Association, approached him about a potential energy project that could serve the needs of area farmers while creating a renewable power resource for the island.
“The whole thing basically complements other projects planned on the property and the long-term picture for flood control, drainage and to benefit ag first and foremost,” Ignacio said. “There have been other (developer) groups, but we ended up choosing Pacific Light & Power.”
Koke‘e Ditch suffers from erosion and must constantly be cleared of plants and debris, he said. KAA is tasked by the Agribusiness Development Corporation, operating under the Department of Agriculture, to manage the land’s resources.
The ADC was established in 1994 by the Department of Agriculture to facilitate and provide direction for the transition of Hawai‘i’s ag industry dominated by sugar and pineapple to one composed of a diversity of different crops, its website states, including water systems and infrastructure management.
Kekha Sugar ended cane cultivation in 2001.
KAA is a nonprofit entity that has five members: Wines of Kaua‘i, Sunrise Capital, BASF, Syngenta and Pioneer Hi-Bred.
“KAA has a memorandum of understanding with the Agribusiness Development Corporation to maintain the infrastructure, and includes two ditches, power lines, roads, and it’s quite extensive,” Ignacio said. “Part of the intent of the project is to allow the property to be self-sustaining — not dependent on the state to pump in dollars to maintain the property.”
The small conduit hydroelectric project would enclose the ditch’s water within more than 11 miles of pipe, including 30-inch in diameter high density polyethylene lines, laid within Koke‘e Ditch starting just below Pu‘u Lua Reservoir and ending on mauka lands north of the base of Waimea Canyon, PLP representatives said during an on-site tour Tuesday.
At its base, the system would have a tailrace sump that would provide 6,000 acres of agricultural lands located on the Mana plains with pressurized water, the plan states. The current median ditch flow is 12.3 million gallons per day.
The project calls for two power generation facilities — upper and lower Pu‘u Lua powerhouses — that would have a collective capacity of 8.6 megawatts.
The power produced would be sold to Kekaha Agriculture Association for distribution to its members. The remaining surplus would be sold to KIUC under the terms of a power purchase agreement, the plan states. At press time, no PPA existed between PLP and KIUC.
Luckett said he presented the project to KIUC’s board on Oct. 6. He stressed the importance of maintaining a good working relationship with the co-op.
The plan states infrastructure improvements would be financed using private and publicly available debt, grants and equity capital in a public-private partnership. Its estimated cost is between $40 million and $50 million, Luckett said, and qualifies for Rural Utility Service funding. He said that as a private company, Pacific Light & Power could develop hydro power at or better cost than KIUC.
On April 15, KAA and PLP executed a memorandum of understanding under which KAA is granted exclusive rights to PLP to develop long-term renewable energy systems to support agriculture. During that same month, PLP applied to the Agribusiness Devleopment Corporation for a license to manage 1,850 of mauka lands and its waterways.
“The whole project started with the needs of Kekaha Agriculture Association,” Ignacio said. “The association inherited an antiquated irrigation system that needs modernization. The concept follows the general plan and identifies resources and needs … We have entertained numerous parties, but Pacific Light & Power proved to be the most dedicated and committed entity.”
PLP said its land management application was approved in September, and license execution is expected by April.
On Feb. 9, PLP filed a draft application with FERC that would exempt it from the agency’s oversight process.
Luckett said the PLP project does not trigger FERC oversight because it does not involve a dam, is not located on federal or Native American Indian lands, and does not utilize navigable waterways — all of which are FERC oversight exemption stipulations.
If FERC provides the exemption, it will not consider permitting competing developers’ projects, Luckett said.
PLP representatives presented their project to about 30 community members on Tuesday at a joint agency and public meeting at Waimea Neighborhood Center. KIUC CEO David Bissell and some KIUC board members were also in attendance.
The public’s most passionate comments came from Hawaiian Home Lands residents who argued against PLP’s right to control the land and the water supply and expressed concern that their already low levels of natural water supply would be further reduced by a pressurized hydro system.
Fishing and hunting along the ditch, the impact of an enclosed ditch on plants and animals, and the potential impact on the Waimea River were also areas of public concern.
Canen Ho‘okano of PLP told the attendees, “If we don’t do it, some outside Mainland company will. This is only the first step. If you guys want it or don’t want it, that’s fine. It’s not about us, it’s about the next generation.”
Kitano Water Power Project
At the meeting, Bissell came forward to say that at this point there is no agreement between KIUC and PLP and that it’s a bit of a stretch to say it will bring money to the project. KIUC’s capital cost is 4 percent, he said, and for private developers it’s three times that amount.
Bissell said Free Flow Power recommended Koke‘e Ditch to KIUC as a project site for hydro development and the co-op has been in discussion with the energy developer since mid-2010.
On Oct. 22, FFP filed a preliminary permit application with FERC for a Kitano Water Power Project, a project that would utilize the same resources as PLP’s proposed hydro project.
“This application is made in order that the applicant may secure and maintain priority in licensing for the project … while obtaining the data and performing the acts required to determine the feasibility of the project,” the document states. FFP’s requested preliminary permit term is 36 months.
The 18-page application, more limited in detail than PLP’s, states that studies to determine the ultimate feasibility of the project — including hydrologic and geologic studies, engineering and design, energy and cost estimates, and stakeholder consultation and discussions — would be completed after issuance of the preliminary permit.
The application said the project utilizes the Koke‘e Ditch, Pu‘u Lua Reservoir and Kitano Reservoir and would involve the construction of a 7.7 megawatt hydropower facility. It involves both upper and lower powerhouses. A new 600-foot tailrace channel would be constructed to return water from the turbine discharge to the Waimea River.
No mention is made of incorporating agricultural interests into the development.
In early January, KIUC announced it had signed a memorandum of agreement with FFP for the joint development of the Kitano Water Power Project and three others: Hanalei River Hydroelectric Project, Makaweli River Water Project and Wailua River Hydroelectric Project.
A KIUC spokesperson said the preliminary permit requests are merely placeholders should the utility wish to develop its own hydroelectric projects in those areas.
Bissell said they have contracted exclusively with FFP to develop hydro, but they do not have an exclusivity agreement. The co-op is willing to entertain other developers’ projects.
“We have a much lower cost of capital than a private developer with a profit motive. Most of the cost of the energy project is capital related,” he said, and with KIUC’s access to low-cost funding through programs such as RUS, the utility can develop its own projects.
When asked if Bissell would consider PLP’s project if they obtained a FERC exemption and management rights to the state land under the ditch, he said it would be unlikely they would invest in an unproven company.
“Free Flow has a lot of experience” in developing hydro projects, he said. “Anybody who wants to compete would have to show qualifications. We will always entertain ideas from credible developers.”
When asked what he thought about the PLP’s public meeting, Bissell said, “I think it was clear the community has concerns about hydro on that site.”
He expressed his own concern that there was no discussion about PLP’s ability to fund the project.
