Effectively incorporating solar power is essential to the Aloha State’s ambitious renewable energy goals as outlined in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. Yet incorporating renewables onto the electric grid can be challenging due to the variability of renewable resources caused by constantly changing wind and cloud cover. Xtreme Power’s Dynamic Power Resource smoothes and controls the rate of change in renewable energy output, creating a better quality power supply that can be utilized more abundantly without adverse impact to the grid.
Since coming online in December 2008, the La Ola solar farm has been limited to delivering only 600 kW onto the Maui Electric Company (MECO) grid. With the addition of the DPR to mitigate the output variability on even the most difficult cloud days, MECO will allow La Ola to operate at its designed capacity rating of 1.2 MW, providing approximately 10 percent of the island’s electricity needs.
“Throughout the life of this project, we have searched for the best way to overcome the performance issues inherent to all solar energy installations and to yield the maximum energy output,” said Harry Saunders, President of Castle & Cooke. “Xtreme Power understood the complexity of finding the balance of our energy storage and power management needs. The Dynamic Power Resource offers an unparalleled technology solution to address those needs and cost-effectively provide more clean energy to the people of Lana’i.”
“The La Ola solar farm further demonstrates our expertise in optimizing renewable energy projects throughout Hawaii. The DPR is already enabling higher penetration of modern wind energy projects as primary sources of electricity supply in Hawaii, and we are excited to be participating in a similar role on the La Ola solar project. Castle & Cooke is truly committed to sustainable development and renewable energy projects in Hawaii and we look forward to future collaborations,” said Carlos Coe, CEO of Xtreme Power.
At full capacity, La Ola is expected to generate three million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Installation of the Dynamic Power Resource is scheduled for May 2011.
Based in Kyle, Texas, Xtreme Power engineers, manufactures and operates integrated power management and energy storage systems for use in renewable energy and micro-grid applications. Xtreme’s Dynamic Power Resource™ combines the large-scale storage capabilities of the company’s proprietary PowerCell™ technology with its micro-second controls and high-efficiency power electronics, creating a comprehensive solution to the intermittency and variability challenges facing utilities and independent power producers looking to implement clean energy to the electrical grid. By providing scalable systems engineered specifically to the needs of its customers, Xtreme Power offers a safe and cost-effective approach to dramatically increase the feasibility of renewable energy.
Castle & Cooke, Inc. and its affiliated companies are owned by David H. Murdock. The company’s diversified businesses have operations in over 24 states and include the development and ownership of real estate. The company’s developments include master planned communities such as Lake Sherwood in Thousand Oaks, California, Mililani Town on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Seven Oaks in Bakersfield, California and Keene’s Pointe in Orlando, Florida. In Hawaii, the company also owns 98% of the island of Lana’i and two award-winning Four Seasons Hotels. Castle also operates FBO’s in Everett, Washington at Paine Field (PAE) and in Honolulu, Hawaii at Honolulu International Airport (HNL).
