Puna Geothermal Ventures have plans to be back online by the end of 2019 according to the owner of the plant that closed during last year’s eruption of Kīlauea Volcano.
PGV plans to power up again. BIN photo.
Ormat Technologies CEO Isaac Angel made the statement in company financial results released last week, according to the Star-Advertiser.
The 38-megawatt plant was taken offline and evacuated when the volcano began erupting on May 3, 2018. It had provided for nearly a quarter of the electricity used on the Island of Hawai‘i.
Lava covered a few of the geothermal wells during the eruption and also cut off access to the plant. Recently, a new road was paved over the lava providing new access to the plant.
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The plant still needs power lines to connect to the grid so that they can test the equipment and a water well was constructed restoring water service to the plant.
“Initial tests from the geothermal injection wells indicate higher temperatures at the reservoir with no sign of any negative impact on pressure,” Angel said. “In light of that, we currently estimate that we will be ready for operation by year end 2019.”
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