USA, Hawaii:

Does Hawaii Need a Unified Grid? (IEEE Spectrum )

In 2013, NextEra proposed to start with a 180-kilometer-long,
high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Maui and Oahu
dubbed NextGrid Hawaii.

Since 2013, a big mainland energy firm has been rearing to build Hawaii's first inter-island power cable, arguing that only a unified power grid can enable the renewable energy developments needed to break Hawaii's addiction to imported petroleum. Now that big outsider—Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy—is trying to absorb Hawaii's power providers in one big bite.

Hawaii's other islands, by contrast, have renewable potential to spare, says a 2010 analysis commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab. Lanai and Molokai could each generate over 1,000 GWh per year of wind power; Maui has over 2,000 GWh of viable geothermal, wind, and solar resources; and Hawai'i (better known as the Big Island) has over 6,000 GWh of geothermal potential. Sharing these resources with Oahu via subsea cables, the authors concluded, was the only way to meet Hawaii's goal to push renewables to 70 percent of the power supply by 2030.

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