GE Global Research has announced that it will work with Maui Electric Company (MECO), a subsidiary of the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) to develop smart grid technology that will handle the ample amount of wind power available on the island.  Without transparency into the system, grid managers struggle to manage the intermittent supply.

“The real issue is that you have a high penetration wind environment,” said Juan de Bedout, global technology leader for power conversion systems at GE Global Research, in an interview with The Maui News.  Bedout is referring to the significant amount of power provided by wind turbines on the island – between 15 and 30 percent of the total demand for power.

Europe, with all its windmills and large wind farms, still can only claim that wind power accounts for less than 10 percent of total demand.  Europe depends on a vast electric grid that relies on power plants that burn fossil fuels.

Since Maui is an island, it can’t connect to larger power grids.  GE Smart Grid will help MECO figure out how to add even more wind power to the system without overloading it.

GE will integrate smart grid technology that is “industrially hardened” from its extensive use in the United Kingdom, according to de Bedout.  The technology is in use there because of much more stringent regulations on the reliability of the British power distribution system.

Maui, however, presents “high penetration” problems rarely found anywhere.  Only the Big Island and Ireland can claim similar concerns.  “HELCO [Hawaii Electric Light Company another subsidiary of HECO], MECO and HECO are truly leaders, blazing trails” for wind power technology, said de Bedout.

By developing a smart grid, MECO will be able to respond much more effectively to fluctuations in electricity flow.  According to de Bedout, vast continental power grids are already pretty smart because they “have to maintain a rotor speed that is perfectly synchronized.”  Smart technology, however, can do the job even better.

MECO will also be working with the Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii and the US Department of Energy to make Maui’s renewable power sources more reliable.  The federal government will be picking up most of the $7 million price tag.

The Kaheawa Wind Farm, with a capacity of 30 megawatts on a good day, typically supplies MECO with 10 percent of its needs.  Demand peaks at 200 megawatts and Kaheawa could account for 15 percent of that – 30 percent at night when the wind blows hardest if grid controllers had the enhanced ability to control the supply.

The current grid forces MECO to rely on backup diesel power to make up for variations in the amount of wind power available.  GE’s smart grid technology can integrate wind power to maintain an adequate voltage and control peak circuit demand.  The project will also consider developing storage systems designed to level out the power supply.

Ed Reinhardt, president of MECO, said the utility would like to have a battery system that could supply power to Maui for 15 to 30 minutes when wind power isn’t available.  Such a system would give MECO enough time to fire up the diesel generators.

“While wind power has been around for some time, relying on a high percentage of wind for day-to-day power generation has been impossible,” explained de Bedout.

GE Global Research
1 Research Circle
Niskayuna, NY 12309
http://www.ge.com/research

Hawaiian Electric
900 Richards Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
https://www.heco.com

Hawaii Natural Energy Institute
2444 Dole St
Honolulu, HI 96822
http://www.hnei.hawaii.edu

Kaheawa Wind Farm
33 Lono Avenue, Suite 380
Kahului, HI 96732
http://www.kaheawa.com
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