Moloka‘i

Moloka‘i is served by the Maui Electric Company, which has about 12 megawatts of diesel-generating capacity on the island.

Renewable Resources on Moloka‘i

Map of Moloka‘i indicating that small-scale solar installations are distributed island-wide.Moloka‘i has significant wind resources that could serve to meet local needs as well as provide power to O‘ahu. On the local scale, one feasibility study found that four 1.5-megawatt wind turbines could meet half the island's electrical use and provide excellent lifecycle cost savings (based on oil price projections at the time of the study). On a larger scale, a 200-megawatt project is proposed for exporting power to O‘ahu via undersea cable. The proposal remains under discussion.

Moloka‘i also has sites that would be suitable for utility-scale solar power and biomass power projects. Together with a local wind project, these would be sufficient to meet the island's entire electrical need, provided that such renewable resources could be successfully integrated onto a small island grid in a reliable and cost-effective way. Thus Moloka‘i has sufficient renewable resources to supply much of its own energy needs and could provide power to meet a significant portion of O‘ahu's needs.