AES Hawaii Power Plant was a medium-size coal-fired electrical power station located in the south-west corner of a

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

an island of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. Owned and operated by

AES AES may refer to: Businesses and organizations Companies * AES Corporation, an American electricity company * AES Data, former owner of Daisy Systems Holland * AES Eletropaulo, a former Brazilian electricity company * AES Andes, formerly AES Gener ...

Hawaii, the plant was the only

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

-fired power plant in the state of

, and was the state's leading single source of toxic pollutants. AES Hawaii consisted of a single unit on the grounds of Campbell Industrial Park, had a year-around capacity of 180

MWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

, and in 2006 represented about 11% of Oahu's commercial electricity supply. The plant closed on September 1, 2022 as part of a state goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. AES indicated that the facility could be repurposed to burn biofuels instead of coal, though such a conversion could take years to complete.

Fuel sources

While in operation, AES Hawaii burned approximately 650,000 tons of

subbituminous coal Sub-bituminous coal is a lower grade of coal that contains 35–45% carbon. The properties of this type are between those of lignite, the lowest grade of coal, and those of bituminous coal, the second-highest grade of coal. Sub-bituminous coal i ...

each year. The coal was imported from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

via a marine terminal at the Barbers Point Harbor. From there, coal was taken to the plant by a long

conveyor system A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

. In addition to coal, AES used alternate fuel sources, such as old tires and used motor oil, to help power the plant. The plant also burned carbon from Board of Water Supply filters. The ash waste product created by AES was used in

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

mixes. In negotiations between

Hawaiian Electric Company Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI; ) is the largest supplier of electricity in the state of Hawaii, supplying power to 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utilities: Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawai'i Electric Light Comp ...

and AES in 2014, it was asked that the plant be converted to run partly on

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...

Environmental impact

AES introduced

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

early into the coal-

combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combust ...

process, filtering out harmful

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide ( IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic ...

early. Most coal plants use industrial

scrubber Scrubber systems (e.g. chemical scrubbers, gas scrubbers) are a diverse group of air pollution control devices that can be used to remove some particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams. An early application of a carbon dioxide scr ...

s to remove harmful pollutants late in the combustion process, which have a higher cost, but are much more efficient, removing as much as 98% of SO₂, compared to the 75% removal rate at AES. According to

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

data, the AES plant was the leading source of toxic pollutants in the State of Hawaii, producing in toxic releases in 2013. This represented a pollutant increase for the plant of more than 100% from 2012.

Exemption from fossil fuel tax

In 2015, the

Hawaii State Legislature The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, t ...

passed, and Governor

David Ige David Yutaka Ige (; born January 15, 1957) is an American politician and engineer who served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 1995 to 2014 and the Hawaii House of Repres ...

signed, a bill that applied the state's tax on petroleum products to all other fossil fuels. The tax specifically exempted coal-powered utilities that operated under power purchase agreements that were in effect before June 30, 2015. The exemption had the effect of exempting the AES Hawaii Power Plant from the fossil fuel tax. Environmental groups criticized this move, questioning why coal-fired power plants should be exempted when all other types of fossil fuels, including petroleum, propane, and liquified natural gas, would be subject to the expanded tax.

References

External links

Aerial photo of the plant (near the center of the lower-left quadrant) and the surrounding Campbell Industrial Park area.

Map of Barbers Point Harbor and the coal conveyor
by

Hawaii DOT The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) is a state government organization which oversees transportation in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The agency is divided into three divisions dealing with aviation, maritime, and roads. HDOT Divisions A ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawaii Coal-fired power stations in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Honolulu County, Hawaii Energy infrastructure completed in 1992 1992 establishments in Hawaii AES Corporation