2017-07-05 ClimateAwards2017Winners

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Honorable Mentions - Large City Hawai'i Mayor Harry Kim Lalamilo Windfarm Hawai'i Department of Water Supply's (DWS) Lalamilo Windfarm project officially opened for commercial operations in September 2016, with five turbines generating 3.3 megawatts of electricity with no -export to the grid. As an island state, the State of Hawai'i has been at the mercy of imported fossil fuel supplies. The Lalamilo Windfarm contributes to the State of Hawai'i's Clean Energy Initiative's goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Among the challenges in developing this project were permitting hurdles, most notably those involving the expected take of endangered bats and sea birds such as petrels. Lighting was installed at downward facing angles and down - shielded to avoid attraction and disorientation of night -flying seabirds. It also will be less attractive to insects at turbine blade heights which may attract bats. The turbines are also programmed to cut in and produce energy only when the wind exceeds 5 meters per second and the blades are feathered into the wind when the wind speeds are below 5 meters per second to minimize impact to both bats and birds. Bird flight diverters were also installed to minimize the potential for birds colliding with the overhead electrical transmission lines. The windfarm is designed to provide a renewable energy source and a stable rate platform for the Department of Water Supply's pumping equipment for the next 20 years. The CO2 offset for the Lalamilo Windfarm is estimated at 5,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. This is arguably the first time in Hawai'i, and perhaps the nation, that a local government has developed such a wind -powered, water -pumping facility capable of significant greenhouse gas reductions at no -cost to the taxpayer. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, in partnership with DWS and the Department of Research and Development, worked out models of the energy output potential for the windfarm site, at no cost to DWS or its customers. In April 2013, the project was awarded to Lalamilo Windfarm Wind Company LLC, which designed, constructed, owns, and maintains the facility, through a Power Purchase Agreement. Planning, design, and construction were also done at no cost to DWS. The turbines of the Windfarm are located on 78 acres adjacent to eight DWS water wells in Lalamilo Windfarm, South Kohala, on the site of a previous windfarm built in the mid-1980s. The use of wind energy while reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels, also ensures a stable source of energy that is expected to reduce energy costs to DWS and its customers over the next 20 years.