Turning the Page: A Story of Coal in Hawai'i
The End of Coal Use in Hawai‘i After 150+ Years of Importing Coal to the Islands
Hawai‘i was an early adopter of electricity. Beginning with King David Kalākaua’s visit with Thomas Edison at his innovation lab in New Jersey in 1886. The Hawaiian kingdom electrified ‘Iolani Palace before the U.S. electrified the White House. Hawai‘i has a long history of being progressive when it comes to energy and new technology, and we have transitioned energy sources before. From whale oil to fossil fuels, and now to renewable energy, Hawai‘i’s story has always been one of progression and finding better resources to meet the needs of our residents and visitors.
History of Coal in Hawai'i - Timeline
1860s - 1920s: Maritime coaling
Until the Civil War, wind was the main power source for ships. While coal-burning ships were available as early as the 1840s, many ship captains viewed the coal engines as a nuisance due to wasted space, safety issues, and stack emissions. However, by the 1860s coal-burning ships, or steam engines, dominated the US Navy's ship fleet. Coal-burning ships required coaling stations to refuel. Hawai’i’s location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean made Hawai‘i an ideal location to establish a coaling station to power Navy ships. (1)
1860s: Coaling stations established throughout Hawaiian Islands
In the 1860s, a coaling station was established at Honolulu Harbor by US Navy. The lease of land for the coaling station was the U.S. Navy's first established shore-side presence in the Hawaiian Islands. Networks of coaling stations were established throughout the Hawaiian Islands until fuel oil emerged in the early 1900s.
1887: Extension of the Reciprocity Treaty
The Reciprocity Treaty included terms that granted the United States sole rights to Pearl Harbor as "a coaling and repair station for the use of vessels of the United States." (1)
1912: Coal facilities at Pearl Harbor authorized
The coaling station authorized in 1912 was not completed until 1918. After completion, it was the largest structure on the base. (1)
1920 -1940: Need for coal by U.S Navy decreases
In the 1920s, bunker oil became the maritime fuel of choice; decommissioning of coaling stations began. The Pearl Harbor Coaling Station became partially dismantled and repurposed into a concrete plant. (1)
1880s - 1990s: Coal use to supplement energy for sugar mills
In 1880, the Makee Sugar Mill in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i used 244 tons of coal to support its milling operations, including in boiling sugar cane. (2) This was a common practice for many of Hawai'i's sugar mills.
In the early 1970s, the Hilo, Onomea, Pepe'ekeo, and Hakalau Sugar companies consolidated into Hilo Coast Processing Co. with one central mill or sugar factory located in Pepe'ekeo. The power plant sat next to the Mill and used milled cane fiber (bagasse) for fuel to provide steam and electricity for factory operations. Excess energy was purchased under contract by the local electric utility (now Hawaiian Electric). The Hilo Coast Power Power Company power plant continued to operate for 10 years after sugar production ceased in 1994 using coal as its main fuel.
1980s: Push to diversify the electric energy portfolio
Petroleum dominated the energy sector for years until there was a large push to diversify in the 1980s resulting in the first use of coal for electricity in Hawai'i at the Hilo Coast Power Company in Pepe'ekeo on Hawai'i Island, HC&S in Puʻunēnē on Maui (pictured), and in the early 1990s the AES Hawai'i Power Plant in Campbell Industrial Park on O'ahu.
Early 2000s - present: A transition begins
In 2004, Hilo Coast Power Company plant was retired and in 2016 the HC&S plant retired. The AES coal plant was the last remaining coal power plant in Hawai‘i, generating 15-20% of O‘ahu’s annual electricity needs.
Coal Use in Hawai'i 2022
Pictured right: Coal from Barbers Point (Kalaeloa) Harbor is carried on a conveyor belt to the coal plant at Campbell Industrial Park on O'ahu.
Coal Imports
Since 2000, coal imports to Hawai'i have predominantly come from the East Kalimantan region of Indonesia. Coal has also been imported to Hawaii from Australia, Canada, and Colombia. Since 2000, domestic coal has only been imported to Hawai'i only one year; in 2019 from Colorado. (3)
On average the AES Hawai'i coal plant imports and burns ~702,000 tons of coal and tire-derived fuel per year. (4)
Implications of the Jones Act on Domestic Imports
Jones Act vessels are required to ship coal from the U.S. to Hawai'i; however, the declining availability of Jones Act vessels and the small percentage of Jones Act vessels in the global fleet (under 0.5%) pose a challenge to importing coal and other fossil fuels from the U.S.
Since 2001, domestic coal has only been imported to Hawai'i one year in 2019 from Colorado.
Indonesian coal imports contribute to deforestation and affects vulnerable communities outside Hawai'i
Mines in East Kalimantan provided the majority of Hawai'i's coal. (3) Forest land cover has dramatically declined as a result of coal mining in this region. In addition, unregulated mining has led to soil and water contamination in the region. (4)
Aerial imagery shows one of the many coal mines near Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. After the coal plant retires, Hawai'i will no longer contribute to deforestation from coal mining.
Imagery Source: LANDSAT Images from 2004 and 2020. (5)
The upstream environmental impacts associated with coal mining, particularly in developing countries highlight the importance of the transition away from coal as an energy source.
In addition, poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, corruption, a complex regulatory environment, and unequal resource distribution among its regions are still part of Indonesia’s economic landscape. (6) Income in Indonesia for the mining sector exhibits wages far lower than comparable the wages for comparable jobs in the U.S. (7, 8)
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In 2020 and 2021, the had the 2nd highest total greenhouse gas emissions after
Total Emissions in 2020: 1,419,655 short tons CO 2 equivalent (CO 2 e) annually.
These emissions are solely from operations and do not include upstream emissions associated with mining and transport, which are harder to quantify.
The operational emissions from the power plant are approximately equivalent to:
- 1.5 million acres of forests sequestering carbon in 1 year, or
- 1 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years. (9)
Map Data Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eGrid (10)
The size of each circle represents emissions intensity, or CO 2 e emissions per kilowatt-hour of energy produced.
Turning the Page
On September 15, 2020, Governor Ige enacted Act 23 (SB2629). The law prohibited the issuing or renewing permits for coal power plants after December 31, 2022, and prohibited the extension of the power purchase agreement between AES and Hawaiian Electric. The power purchase agreement for the coal plant expired September 1, 2022, this became the effective retirement date for the coal plant.
The Hawai‘i State Legislature passed Act 23 based in part on statements by Hawaiian Electric “that the large coal-fired power plant, with a relatively inflexible power output, is ill-suited for a small island electricity grid that increasingly relies on renewable energy.”(11) The Legislature also stated, “coal power, as one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, has no role in Hawaii's clean energy future and that this measure will ensure that the use of coal in Hawaii for electricity production is eliminated.” (11)
Planning for the Coal Plants Retirement Since 2016
O‘ahu’s only electric utility, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), has been planning for the retirement of the AES coal plant since 2016, or earlier. The reason: HECO must accept all electricity generated by the coal plant, which constrains its flexibility and ability to incorporate other power sources, specifically renewable energy.
2016
Hawaiian Electric’s 2016 Power Supply Improvement Plan (PSIP) states, “Our ability to integrate more renewable generation onto the grid in the coming decades is improved without a large, inflexible single generator such as AES. Under the current PPA, AES provides a large block of coal-fired generation that Hawaiian Electric must accept. Without this constraint and its relative inflexibility, increased amounts of renewable energy can more easily be integrated onto the system. The unit provides relatively little ancillary services" (12).
2017
The Hawai'i Public Utilities Commission opened a docket for Hawaiian Electric to procure renewable generation pursuant to the PSIP (known as “Stage 1 RFP”), with the intent for the projects to be online by the end of 2020.
2018
Hawaiian Electric issued RFPs and selected eight utility-scale solar plus battery storage projects that ranged from 9 to 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, four of which are on O'ahu. Governor Ige joined Hawai'i to the Powering Past Coal Alliance to further cement Hawai'i’s intent to retire coal use at the end of the contract.
2019
The Hawai'i Public Utilities Commission directed Hawaiian Electric to do a second round of procurement (known as “Stage 2 RFP”) given the strong market signal and low prices resulting from competitive bidding, and to more expressly replace the planned coal plant retirement. Governor Ige signed Act 23, which banned the use of coal in Hawaii for electricity after 2022.
2020
Hawaiian Electric selected nine utility-scale solar plus battery storage and three stand-alone battery storage projects that ranged from 9 to 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, five of the solar plus battery and one of the stand-alone storage projects are on O'ahu.
2021
PUC identified numerous delays to the Stage 1 and Stage 2 projects. In response, Governor Ige established the Powering Past Coal Task Force to coordinate the various actors involved in the project timelines.
2022
Hawai'i's last coal plant retired September 2022.
Looking Forward
One project (pictured) the Mililani I Solar Plus Storage Project (39 MW + 156 MWh) in central O'ahu energized and began commercial operations on July 31, 2022. Waiawa Phase I (36MW + 144 MWh) energized and began commercial operations on January 11, 2023. The energy generated by the two projects will help replace some of the coal plant's energy.
While the anticipated renewable energy projects did not come online as anticipated, projects selected to replace the coal plant's energy are anticipated to come online in late 2022, 2023, and early 2024.
For more information on continued efforts to replace coal on O'ahu, visit the Hawai'i State Energy Office's Powering Past Coal Taskforce website.
