Hawai‘i Island’s technology park celebrates 50 years of researching renewable ocean energy

Along the rugged Kona coastline near the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, there is a local beach and fishing spot that also is a hotbed of technology where companies experiment with deep-sea water as a renewable energy.

Founded in 1974, the Hawai‘i Ocean Science Technology Park off Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway was established by visionaries in an attempt to harness the power of ocean thermal energy conversion by mixing deep-sea water with surface-sea water as a source of electricity.

The scientists were successful – on a small scale – in pulling ocean water from depths of 3,000 feet through three different pipes that now feed a variety of operations within the park. The goal is to see if the science can be replicated on a commercial scale.

While that remains to be seen, so much has been accomplished at the 870-acre park, including ground-breaking aquaculture and other ocean-based sustainable technologies.

On Saturday, the community is invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the technology park, now home to 43 companies, at an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The technology park is managed by the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority, a state agency affiliated with the state Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

The authority’s deputy director, Laurence Sombardier, said the state agency initially was formed to look at renewable energy technologies, which included geothermal and ocean thermal energy conversion, at a time when Hawai‘i experienced its first oil embargo that drove up prices.

“The energy security aspect was kind of big at the time because of the high prices in oil and the limited oil availability,” Sombardier said.

Three pump stations at the park correspond to three sets of pipelines. Currently, the 55-inch inner-diameter pipe at Keāhole Point, just off the airport, is active to depths of 3,000 feet and stretches out more than 10,000 feet offshore.

There is a 40-inch inner diameter pipe and an 18-inch diameter pipe that drops to more than 2,000 feet and stretches more than 6,000 feet offshore.

The plant has the ability and the permits for 127,000 gallons per minute. However, it is not operating at that capacity. Sombardier said the plant produces about 20 million gallons per day, which is 13,888 gallons per minute.

The park was created as a way to show proof of concept that a commercial facility could produce ocean thermal energy conversion power. And the place has shown its feasibility, Sombardier said.

Makai Ocean Engineering, which was looking at proof of concept back in the 1980s and 90s, still is involved in studying the technology, Sombardier said.

Michael Eldred, director of heat exchange research at Makai Ocean Engineering, said the advantage of the location off Keāhole Point is its steep drop to the ocean floor providing access to cold water that is nutrient-rich.

Currently, the company is looking at ways to take the technology to a larger scale operation and be economically viable. At this point, it’s not able to do so because of the massive infrastructure required, including pipes ranging in size from 3 to 4 meters in diameter.

The heat exchanger is the key component to the ocean thermal energy conversion. For a large-scale operation, Eldred said it would essentially look like an oil rig floating a few miles offshore with a pipe hanging from it.

Eldred is looking forward to the upcoming open house because it is an opportunity to educate the public about the park, the science, and how people can be sustainable and better stewards of the earth’s resources.

The businesses that come down here, Sombardier explained, use the seawater for a variety of different applications.

Some of them are cooling their buildings with deep-sea water, which Sombardier said is 10 times cheaper than the typical heating and cooling systems since the water coming through the pipes is 41 degrees.

That cold water Sombardier said allows businesses to grow things as well, including algae, shrimp, clams, oysters and kampachi. One company, Big Island Abalone, grows the tasty creature and the seaweed it eats.

The state invested more than $130 million since the creation of the park.

Another business at the park, Kona Salt Farm, harvests salt from the deep cold ocean offshore. The unforgiving Kona sun helps to evaporate that water where only pure salt remains.

“The science involved with the ocean and the sun and to be involved with all of that has been exciting,” said Melanie Kelekolio, operations manager for the farm.

The 57-year-old said she first learned about the technology park and science behind it when she visited the ocean technology energy conversion plant at 13 years old.

Seeing up close the plant, which looked like a tower in the middle of a lava field near the airport, sparked something in her: “I fell in love with it.” She has worked at the park for 25 years.

According to the state agency’s website, the authority is on track to fulfilling its mission as an engine for economic development in Hawai‘i as the park approaches $150 million annually with the creation of more than 600 jobs statewide.

The state has a goal of using 100% clean energy by 2045. Some of the technologies that can help reach that goal are solar, geothermal and of course ocean thermal energy conversion, which could lead to less use of fossil fuels, and thus less carbon in the air.

“We’re trying to do something better for the world,” Eldred said.

Click here to take a virtual tour of the park.