The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved the utility’s Power Supply Improvement Plan on Friday.
The Power Supply Improvement Plan aims to have the state be 100 percent renewable energy by 2040 with no fossil fuel assets on the islands by 2045.
The five-year plan will double Hawaii’s renewable energy penetration from 25 percent to 52 percent in 2021, and also nearly double the state’s photovoltaic installations from 717 megawatts to 1,465 megawatts in the same time period.
HECO predicts its three sister utilities - Hawaiian Electric Co. on Oahu, Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co. on Hawaii island - will exceed the state’s renewable-energy milestones in 2020, 2030 and 2040.
HECO's plan calls for energy storage and other grid technologies to enable a high penetration of renewables. And long-range plans for each of the five utility island systems includes Battery Energy Storage Systems to provide load shifting and ramping assistance.