Hawaii is shifting away from coal and moving to renewable energy sources, with the state setting a goal to reach 100% green energy by 2045. A big step towards that goal was announced earlier this year when Hawaiian Electric and Plus Power revealed plans for one of the largest battery energy storage solutions in the world using Tesla Megapacks.
The new Kapolei Energy Storage (KES) project will use 158 Megapacks and have a capacity of 185 MW (565 MWh), replacing the last coal-powered generating station in the state.
The coal plant is expected to shut down shortly, with the last shipment of coal arriving at the facility this week. In what may be the perfect juxtaposition, Elon Musk announced that the last shipment of coal arrived at the same time as a shipment of Megapacks.
Musk shared a photo showing the port where the coal was arriving, with an arrow pointing out the Tesla Megapacks stored nearby after recently being offloaded from the same port.
Last coal shipment arrived in Hawaii at same time as Tesla Megapack batteries that will enable 24/7 sustainable energy pic.twitter.com/zlqJHLsAQq
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 28, 2022
Musk also shared a photo of the KES project still under construction. 80 Megapacks can be seen already placed on their concrete pads, with more on the sidelines waiting to be installed.
When the project was announced, Hawaiian Electric and Plus Power said it would be operational by September 2022. With just a few days left in the month they won’t be able to meet that target, but it appears as though they aren’t far behind.
Once it is up and running it will help balance the grid when solar energy production is not possible, and used to jump-start the grid on the island in case of a shutdown.
