State lends support to community resilience projects throughout islands, American Samoa

Hawaiʻi State Energy Office in April became the Pacific Regional Partner for U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project, which pairs communities with national laboratories to tackle local energy challenges through planning and deep-dive technical projects.

The state energy office next year will support the launch of five new Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project initiatives in Hawaiʻi — including two on the Big Island — and American Samoa, strengthening energy reliability and security.

Hawaiʻi County

Reliable power is essential for Hawai‘i County Department of Water Supply’s provision of potable water. The department seeks paths to energy reliability that will strengthen the county’s water security. Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project will help the county analyze the energy use and vulnerabilities of its drinking water system and assess cost-effective solutions to improve reliability, security and efficiency.

Hauʻula and Punaluʻu

Hau‘ula on Oʻahu and Punalu‘u in Kaʻū on Hawaiʻi Island are geographically isolated, meaning outages are frequent as power travels long distances to reach the communities through lines that are vulnerable to environmental damage. Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project will support Hau‘ula and Punalu‘u in evaluating the feasibility and capacity of on-site energy generation at key facilities to improve the reliability and security of their isolated power system and ensure critical services continue for community members during outages.

Wahiawā and Whitmore Villages

Wahiawā and Whitmore villages are communities on Oʻahu interested in identifying local, cost-effective energy generation and storage options to reduce costs, including from hydropower and pumped hydropower storage. Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project technical assistance will provide hydrologic resource modeling, conceptual microgrid designs and implementation strategies to improve the reliability and security of Wahiawā and Whitmore’s energy systems.

Wai‘anae

Waiʻanae on Oʻahu developed a strategic energy plan through Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project to identify potential solutions to support residents during emergencies and improve the reliability and affordability of their energy system. The program will continue supporting Wai‘anae’s goals for community-level reliability by evaluating potential resilience hub locations, microgrid potential and generation options.

American Samoa, including Tutuila and Manua Islands

American Samoa Department of Homeland Security seeks support to reduce downtime and maintain capabilities of critical emergency operations centers and communication towers during natural disaster events. Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project will help analyze outage frequency, evaluate on-site energy generation and storage options as well as provide guidance for integrating on-site generation with existing generators to provide redundancy, reliability and security during outages.

Technical assistance from Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project helps communities proactively identify and implement solutions that suit their particular needs, leveraging the experience and expertise of a broad coalition of local stakeholders, regional organizations, national laboratories and U.S. Department of Energy.

“Working with communities to enable strategic investments in energy planning and community resilience is fundamentally important to our ability to sustain a reliable, affordable and environmentally sound energy ecosystem,” said Hawaiʻi Chief Energy Officer Mark Glick in a release outlining the projects. “All sectors of Hawaiʻi’s economy and well-being depend on it.”

Hawaiʻi State Energy Office already supported nine communities in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Region through Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project’s first four cohorts and will continue working closely with local governments and community-based organizations to develop energy solutions that address specific geographic, cultural and economic needs in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Region.

Ongoing Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project initiatives throughout the state include technical analysis of floating photovoltaic and pumped hydro projects on Moloka‘i, microgrids on O‘ahu and resilience hubs on Maui Hawaiian Homesteads.

The Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project program — now welcoming its fifth cohort — has supported more than 80 communities in eight regions throughout the United States and its territories with projects that include strategic energy planning, energy generation and storage assessments, weatherization, energy system optimization modeling and other in-depth energy analysis projects.