Aloha Friend,

This week Governor Josh Green helped launch the state’s newest solar energy facility, which will produce enough energy to reduce Oahu’s use of fossil fuels by 750,000 barrels of oil and the associated pollution and greenhouse gases emitted over its lifetime.

“This project touches a milestone for the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative,” Governor Green said, “which was launched in 2008 and is underway to make the islands petroleum-independent by 2045. It also reduces costs for consumers and helps future generations by combating the effects of climate change.”

The first facility to combine solar generation and battery energy storage on Oahu, the solar farm is located on 66 acres of open University of Hawaii land in Kapolei — one of a dozen AES Hawaii renewable projects in progress throughout the state.

“This is the third utility-scale solar farm and it’s just gigantic,” Governor Green said. “You can see what its scope is, and there are seven additional projects that are expected to be online on Oahu by 2027. The scope of this project and having many more is where we need to be as we move forward towards our 2045 goals.”

AES Hawaii projects currently in operation or under development across the state will collectively provide nearly 400 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 160,000 homes statewide, while eliminating more than 470,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and more than 30 million barrels of oil consumption over the course of their life cycles.

“This project reduces our oil consumption,” Governor Green said. “Petroleum is a problem for us. It’s a problem for our planet. It’s one of many reasons why we faced what we did on Maui.”

If you support Josh’s efforts to move Hawaii to a clean energy future and combat climate change, please consider chipping in a small donation today.

Mahalo,

Team Green