HONOLULU, Oct. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The
Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has approved a contract
for SunPower to sell energy to Hawaiian Electric Company from a
5-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) farm planned for Kalaeloa
in West Oahu.
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPRWA, SPWRB), will design, build and
operate the facility. Subject to receipt of applicable permits,
SunPower plans to begin construction this year and complete the
solar farm within five months. It will be located on land leased
from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands at Roosevelt Avenue and
Boxer Road.
The SunPower agreement represents the first utility-scale solar
project on Oahu approved by the
PUC. The contract is the outcome of Hawaiian Electric's request for
proposals for renewable energy projects for Oahu issued under the PUC's competitive
bidding framework in 2008.
The price is not linked to the cost of fossil fuel which
protects electric customers from the volatility of the price of
oil. The cost per kilowatt hour will start under 20 cents and will initially escalate at a fixed
rate before a price reduction during the second half of the
contract.
"With SunPower's high-efficiency technology, Hawaiian Electric
will benefit from reliable, cost-effective, guaranteed
performance," said Jim Pape,
president of SunPower's residential and commercial business group.
"The solar farm will contribute clean, renewable solar power to
Oahu while generating revenue for
the important work of the Hawaiian Homelands department on behalf
of native Hawaiians."
"We welcome this approval of our continuing effort to add as
much renewable energy as possible to our island grid," said
Robbie Alm, Hawaiian Electric
executive vice president. "Hawaii is a national leader in adding solar
watts per person to our grids and this project will help reduce our
use of imported oil and increase our solar leadership."
SunPower will install high-efficiency SunPower solar panels on a
SunPower® T0 Tracker system which moves the solar panels to follow
the sun during the day. According to SunPower this increases
sunlight capture by up to 25 percent over fixed-tilt systems, while
significantly reducing land requirements.
Based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates, the
solar farm will produce enough renewable power to avoid almost
11,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, equivalent to
removing 37,600 cars from Hawaii's
roads over the 20-year term of the power purchase agreement.
About SunPower
SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB) designs, manufactures and
delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels
and systems available today. Residential, business, government and
utility customers rely on the company's quarter century of
experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on
investment throughout the life of the solar system. Headquartered
in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has
offices in North America,
Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit
www.sunpowercorp.com.
SunPower is a registered trademark of SunPower Corp. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
About Hawaiian Electric Company
Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric
Company and Hawaii Electric Light Company, serve more than 400,000
customers on the islands of Oahu,
Hawaii, Maui, Lanai and Molokai, home to 95% of Hawaii's people. It is a subsidiary of
Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE). For more information,
visit www.heco.com.
SOURCE SunPower Corp.