The untapped geothermal potential of Hawaii

Puna Geothermal Power Plant, Big Island, Hawaii (source: betterplace.com)

Alexander Richter 12 Oct 2010

Take a volcanic island group in the middle of the ocean that needs to import nearly everything, including oil for electricity generation, and you have Hawaii.

In many ways it is striking that you have those volcanoes and yet so little in geothermal energy utilization. So I found this article quite interesting that covers some interesting facts on development there.

The article talks about that there exist “approximately 1,400 megawatts of potential geothermal energy below the surface of the Big Island — seven times what is needed to power the island’s energy needs — according to a report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”

The Ormat Technologies owned, Puna Geothermal Venture is running the state’s sole geothermal power plant, situated along the east rift of Kilauea volcano, which produces up to 30 MW of energy.

“But the path to capturing this fraction of the island’s geothermal potential has not been easy. A 1991 blowout during a drilling operation at Puna Geothermal sent a 60-foot tower of steam into the air and more than a ton of hydrogen sulfide to the surface, prompting the evacuation of nearby residents. And complaints of health problems, noise and the disruption of Hawaiian cultural practices have made the road to geothermal a rocky one.

“Big business came in and bulldozed in an Avatar-like fashion,” said Ted Peck, the state’s energy administrator.

Millions of dollars of research into geothermal energy, including $26 million in federal and state funding for studying an undersea cable in the 1980s that would bring 500 megawatts of energy to Oahu, have since been abandoned. A second planned geothermal power plant by the True Geothermal Energy Co., out of Casper, Wyo., spent 10 years forging its way through the state’s regulatory environment, but shuttered its operations after the 1991 Puna Geothermal explosion prompted state regulatory agencies to suspend both companies’ drilling permits.

Hawaii’s 2008 Clean Energy Initiative, which mandates that 40 percent of the state’s energy be derived from renewable-energy sources by 2030, has intensified the focus on how to develop the state’s resources. Initial projections for geothermal, however, have been relatively modest. The agreement permits an increase to 60 megawatts of geothermal energy, or less than a third of the Big Island’s energy needs.”

Full story: Pacific Business News of Honolulu.

Source: Sustainable Business Oregon