Hawaiian Utility Seeks Biofuel as Energy Source for Power Plant

January 10, 2007

The Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) issued a request for proposals in late December to obtain a supply of biofuel for a planned 110-megawatt power plant. HECO plans to begin operating the new power plant in mid-2009 and has designed the plant to be "fuel flexible"—able to run on a variety of fossil or renewable fuels—but has committed to run the plant on 100 percent biofuel. HECO is seeking either ethanol or biodiesel to fuel the plant's combustion turbine, and prefers a fuel made from Hawaiian-grown biomass. Proposals are due by February 15th. See the HECO press release.