Koʻolaupoko to build three Critical Customer Hubs to keep the power on during severe weather.
Koʻolaupoko, Hawaii: $8.33 million
Project Description
The Ko‘olaupoko region is one of O‘ahu’s most vulnerable communities when looking at critical infrastructure. Three major electricity transmission lines serve the region. They traverse the Ko‘olau mountains from the west and central O‘ahu generating stations. The lines are at risk from high-speed winds and can only be reached by helicopter.
This project will develop three Critical Customer Hubs in the Koʻolaupoko region. The hubs are like a microgrid. It has equipment that lets Hawaiian Electric isolate and power essential community facilities during long outages. Mobile microgrid control systems like this do not have the same weaknesses as fixed generation systems. They can also be safely stored after use.
This project will also harden the distribution infrastructure in the hub’s boundary. The hub will reduce down time and quickly restore power to essential critical community facilities during emergencies.