Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism completes installation of largest solar PV system in Honolulu’s business district – Pacific Business News

By HJ Mai –  Web Editor/Energy Reporter, Pacific Business News, Jan 8, 2018, 11:56am HST Updated Jan 8, 2018, 1:26pm 
 
Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism said it has completed the installation of a 300-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system at its Pier 2 facility in Honolulu.

The department said the PV system, which was completed in December, consists of 1,070 panels and has an annual output of nearly 549,000 kilowatt-hours.

The solar PV installation at DBEDT’s Pier 2 facility, home of the department’s Foreign-Trade Zone division, is considered to be the largest solar system in the core downtown business district and produces nearly all of the facility’s daily energy needs, according to a news release.

“We’re making great strides toward meeting our 100 percent renewable energy goals, and this photovoltaic energy system is another example of the state’s commitment to these goals,” Hawaii Gov. David Ige said in a statement.
The Foreign-Trade Zone said it plans to expand the system through energy storage and the production of other forms of energy, such as hydrogen, which in turn could be used to fuel the division’s fleet of forklifts.

In August, Honolulu-based car dealership Servco Pacific Inc. broke ground on the state’s first publicly publicly accessible hydrogen station. Located at 2850 Pukoloa St. in Honolulu, the facility is expected to be completed by early 2018 and will electrolyze water to produce hydrogen on site.

“The Foreign-Trade Zone’s Pier 2 location is an ideal spot for this type of project,” DBEDT Director Luis P. Salaveria said in a statement. “Thoughtful energy planning and policy requires a thorough understanding of the relative costs of utility- and residential-scale solar PV, which will help us achieve our energy goals.”

The Hawaii Foreign-Trade Zone #9 supports the expansion of imports and exports, manufacturing and the Maritime industry in the state.
 
“I’m very pleased to see this project finally come to fruition,” Foreign-Trade Zone Administrator David Sikkink said in a statement. “A third of our operating budget was spent on energy to power our facility. It will be a significant decrease in cost for us, which will be a relief to our program’s budget. We can now be able to focus those funds on enhancing the program and furthering our international trade objectives for the state.”

According to DBEDT’s 2016 Annual Report, the Foreign Trade-Zone division received adjusted appropriations of $2.14 million from the foreign trade zone special fund.

Hawaii-based Island Pacific Energy handled design and installation of the solar PV system, Skikink told PBN in an email.