Think again
It is apparent to me from the article in the Tuesday West Hawaii Today about Hawi Renewble Energy that the 16 wind turbines are very old. Indeed they are 15-plus years old. If the article is clear each wind turbine generates less than two-thirds of 1 MW each. Current standards for wind turbine projects have turbines that generate 20 MW each.
It is hard for me to understand why your plan for the future is to maintain these very old wind turbines with maintenance costs that only increase and parts that are difficult and expensive to obtain instead of planning to upgrade the wind turbines themselves and reduce the number of turbines on site. The story states that “the existing turbines, height and blades will remain the same. There will be no new turbines added.” This is poor management and shows a lack of understanding of where current technology can be employed.
I would submit that replacing the 16 old wind turbines over time with two (2) current state-of-the art wind turbines would do more for the island than maintaining old tired less supported technology. Consider, two current technology wind turbines would develop 40 MW, an increase of 380%. This would move Hawaii Island closer toward the goals of sustainability and make low-cost electricity available to many more families. If the current output of 10.56 MW can service 2,100 homes perhaps two 20 MW turbine generators could service almost 8,000 families.
This is important for the future of the island as surely as population growth and increased electricity needs will occur. Consider also the weening of 16 units on the land down to two. The visual impact on the land would be so dramatic. Bird strikes, which are rarely published but always occur, would be significantly reduced as well.
For you, as a company, to deny the advantages of improved technology puts into question your motivations for servicing the community. You need to think again if you want the community to stand with you for extending the Power Purchase Agreement without considering technological advancements.
Bruce Gallagher
Hoover, Alabama
^
You were elected to serve
I will be returning from an extended stay on the mainland to be with family and friends. It was also a time to see what is happening in the business world away from Hawaii.
America is moving again and businesses of all kinds are struggling to cope with the growing numbers of customers. For all the ranting and raving about unemployment benefits keeping people from going back work are well over blown. Sure there might be some who have used this as a fall back position but that’s not the problem.
The problem is vaccination has become a we against them. It is time to put the full force of federal, state and local governments in implementing a vaccine mandate. Vaccine cards must be issued and utilized until this pandemic is dead. Sorry to all those “live free or die” slogans that I witnessed as I moved around the country, but you had your chance to help our country recover and you chose to spout ridiculous statements about pride of country and self-determination. If you had pride of country, you would have stepped up and been the first in line to speed her recovery.
I demand that all elected officials get off their political behinds and get down to the serious business of cleaning up this mess that could have been completely solved with the total inoculation once the vaccines were produced. Forget your political careers. You were elected to serve the people and now is the time for you to show your metal.
Barry and Louise Christian
Kailua-Kona
^
Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Submit online at www.westhawaiitoday.com/?p=118321 or via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com.