Wind Farm Completed In Maui

 
The 21MW Auwahi Wind Farm has been completed in the southern part of Maui. It is located on the Ulupalakua Ranch in Kula. This area is near the mountain of Haleakala and is at nearly 2,000 feet. (It is less commercially developed than the Lahaina side of the island.)

There are eight Siemens AG turbines and a 10-megawatt storage system at the site. Power generated by it will go to the Maui Electric Company (MECO).

“From the Hawaiian perspective, wind is very important in our culture. So when people say wind is something new, indeed, the way we do it now is, but ancient Hawaiians understood it very well.  It was the power we used in our canoes, from the Marquesas Islands to Hawai’i–wind power,” explained Sen. J. Kalani English.

Originally, the contract for the project was linked to Shell Oil, but that relationship fell apart.

Image Credit: Public Domain