RMT Chosen For Hawaii Wind Farm
First Wind has selected RMT Inc. to engineer and build a wind energy facility that is on the island of Oahu. Construction has already began on the 30 megawatt Kahuku Wind project and it anticipated that the facility will be complete by the end of the year. The facility will contribute to the Hawaiian Clean Energy Initiative that has a goal of reaching 70 percent clean energy by 2030.
RMT will be providing the engineering for the project as well as the procurement, construcion of the 12 Clipper Liberty 2.5 megawatt wind turbines. The infrastructure will consist of roads, turbine foundations and crane walks and pads. They will also be responsible for designing and constructing the electrical infrastructure which includes a 23 kV underground collector and a step up station of 23/46 kV.
“After RMT built our Milford, Utah, wind farm last year, we knew we’d be working with them again,” said Michael Alvarez, First Wind’s president and CFO. “They have proven that they can handle the challenging engineering and construction issues to keep our projects on schedule and within budget.”
Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved the PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) in early May between the Hawaiian Electric Company and Kahuku Wind Power. As a part of the agreement, First Wind will be selling the available renewable energy to Hawaiian Electric as a pre-set price over the next 20 years.