Electrek – Joint Base Pearl Harbor just broke ground on a big solar-plus-storage system

The Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam West Loch Annex just broke ground for the Kūpono Solar Project, a solar-plus-storage system in O‘ahu, Hawai‘i.

The Kūpono Solar Project will sit on around 131 acres of federal land and feature a 42-megawatt (MW) solar array and 42 MW/168 MWh of lithium-ion battery storage. The renewable energy will go to Hawaiian Electric’s (HECO) grid and will power around 10,000 households on O‘ahu.

Once fully operational, the project is expected to reduce more than 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually from Hawai‘i’s environment – the equivalent to offsetting emissions from 12,000 cars annually.

Cleantech integrator Ameresco and electric infrastructure developer, owner, and operator Bright Canyon Energy established a joint venture in 2021 to advance the project, which has a 37-year land lease agreement with the US Navy to provide critical energy resiliency upgrades for O‘ahu.

Kūpono Solar will own and operate this solar and battery project under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric.

Read the full release (opens in new window)