Workers at Gay & Robinson gathered under the shade of the monkeypod trees to watch Gov. Linda Lingle sign the latest of three energy bills yesterday at the Kaumakani-based sugar plantation’s visitor center. “You will be involved as we improve
Workers at Gay & Robinson gathered under the shade of the monkeypod trees to watch Gov. Linda Lingle sign the latest of three energy bills yesterday at the Kaumakani-based sugar plantation’s visitor center.
“You will be involved as we improve for generations to come, to secure energy sufficiency,” Lingle said at the signing.
The bill increases incentives for residential and commercial energy consumers to adopt renewable technologies and may help breathe new life into Gay & Robinson, the only sugar plantation remaining on Kaua‘i.
The bill gives the Department of Agriculture about $150,000 to help develop bio-fuels from renewable resources like sugar, said Linda Smith, policy advisor to the governor.
The state currently mandates a 10-percent mix of ethanol, which can be made from sugar, in transportation fuel. The mandate requires 40-million gallons of ethanol each year, all of which is imported, said Maurice Kaya, chief technology officer for the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism.
“It’s our belief that locally produced ethanol can compete favorably with that which has to be imported right now,” he said.
At the end of March, Gay & Robinson applied for the first of the permits necessary to build facilities that will convert sugar into ethanol and, eventually, electricity. The upgrade will also include an in-house sugar refinery.
“Now we have a chance to move forward,” said E. A. Kennett, president and manager of Gay & Robinson. “Instead of being known as a sugar producer, we will make the transformation to be an energy producer.”
The joint venture with Pacific West Energy will develop facilities to convert molasses and sugar cane syrup into 12-million gallons of ethanol fuel annually, according to Pacific West. If the permit process goes smoothly, building should begin in October, Kennett said.
A second 15-million gallon facility would follow next year.
That growth would fuel an increase in Kauai’s sugar production, from 50,000 tons per year to about 70,000 tons per year, Kennett said. It would also require an estimated 150 new workers to join the 230 already employed. The increased production could almost triple the private company’s current revenues, which Kennett put in the $20 million range.
Land use — currently at 7,500 acres — will eventually double, Kennett said.
It creates jobs, brings a $50-million project to the county and protects open space, the DBEDT’s Kaya said .
“Of all of the islands, Kaua‘i is the farthest ahead on ethanol conversion,” he said.
The new joint-venture company, Gay & Robinson Ag-Energy, will invest $50 million in the first phase of the project.
• Charlotte Woolard, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or cwoolard@kauaipubco.com.
