Puna Geothermal Venture
Hawaii

Wednesday August 27, 2008

The Hot Spot

An Alternative energy resource at Puna Geothermal Venture.

Written by: Melissa Moniz
Iflygo Inflight magazine
November/December 2007 issue

The Puna geothermal venture, painted green to camouflage itself in its lush surroundings, has been quietly producing electricity in the Puna district on the Big Island for the past 15 years.

The 15-year celebration marks a huge accomplishment for the proud producer of about 20 percent of the Big Island’s electricity, as it encountered many bumps and hurdles along the way.

“The drawbacks in the early development are that people in charge did not do enough community outreach, and people were not educated about what was going on,” said Mike Kaleikini, plant manager. “Going out and educating the public helps a lot and we also hire students from Pahoa High School for internship programs. We are very active in the community and business associations like the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board.”

PGV, the only producer of geothermal energy in Hawaii, has made many advances to not only educate and involve the public, but also to improve the efficiency of production. Monitoring air quality, environment and control systems have been the major upgrades throughout the years.

Guided tours also have remained a priority for the plant, which welcomes schools, scientists, residents and tourists to visit the facility daily. Tours are offered Monday through Friday and scheduled through its website, www.punageothermalventure.com, or by calling (808) 965-6233.

Located about 30 minutes from Hilo airport, just the drive to the plant is something to see. Grandest of all the sights is a stretch of road minutes from PGV which seems like the towering trees above are overlapping to offer a grand entrance – the sky peeks through the treetops just enough to give it an enchanted feel.

Once at the plant, technology and mechanics take over and it becomes clear that there’s much more to producing 30,000 megawatts of power (electricity for more than 30,000 Big Island homes and businesses) than just drilling and steam. As a low profile plant, PGV’s structure is at most 24 feet high and has zero emissions with 100 percent of geothermal fluid and gas reinjected deep into the earth. To accomplish this, the PGV plant uses air-cooled condensers and noise-reduction enclosures. On the 25 acres occupied by the facility, PGV’s well field has five production wells and four injection wells at depths between 4,000 and 7,000 feet.

With 500 acres of land available for PGV’s use, the plant is only producing a fraction of its capability. The 30 megawatts maximum capacity is a limitation with the equipment, not the geothermal resource.

“I hope that we’ll build up to 60 megawatts that were permitted here, and in fact I hope that perhaps there are other areas on island or off-island that may have potential for geothermal,” said Kaleikini, who has been at the plant since 1991. “I think that as years have gone by, the technology has improved where you don’t need as much heat as far as being able to convert it to energy.”

Powered by natural heat from the earth, specifically the East rift Zone found on the eastern flank of the Kilauea Volcano, PGV’s energy contribution saves the Hawaii Electric Light Company(HELCO) more than 4,000,000 barrels of imported oil each year. PGV’s contract with HELCO is based on what Kaleikini describes as “firm power” and is the primary reason why geothermal energy is the top source of renewable energy.

“If you specifically compare wind, solar and geothermal, we would as what our producer4ws refer to as firm power, and what that means is that we can get a contract, and if we say we’re going to do 30 megawatts then we can do it on a continual basis,” added Kaleikini. “The wind, you have to wait for wind and the same thing with solar, where if it’s not windy or sunny, you’ll probably get a reduction in energy.”

Under negotiation is a plan to increase PGV’s electrical output by 8 megawatts with HELCO on an as-needed basis, meaning if HELCO needed it PGV would provide it.

The underground geothermal resource at PGV is estimated to hold potentially 200 megawatts of energy, which allows PGV the ability to expand to accommodate the needs of the island.

The idea of extending the use of the energy to other Hawaiian islassnds was investigated by the state in 1980s – it proved to be technically feasible but too costly.

Building the plant did not come cheap either. It came with a $110 million price tag with additional millions in maintenance.

“Maintenance is very high because it’s aggressive and there’s a high salt concentration, so a lot of it is you have to get material that can withstand these conditions and the steam,” said Kaleikini. “We spend several millions a year on maintenance.”

Speaking of millions, because the steam is considered a mineral the state own, PGV pays royalties with 50 percent going to the state, 30 percent to the county of Hawaii and 20 percent to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

“Last year the total royalties were a little over $2million,” said Kaleikini.

According to the Hawaii State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the total geothermal-generated electricity produced at PGV has saved Hawaii from burning 5.5 million barrels of fossil fuel.

With the dependency on electricity not declining, it’s nice to know that Hawaii has an indigenous resource that, as PGV puts it, “is clean, stable and always available.”