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| Puna Geothermal Venture can be seen at lower right, close to the line of lava flow. Honolulu Star-Advertiser photo by Cindy Ellen Russell. |
Lava from Kilauea volcano has destroyed the former Hawaii Geothermal Project site adjacent to Puna Geothermal Venture, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Talmadge Magno.
In his noon update for radio today, Magno said, “There is no immediate threat to any of the wells at PGV.”
From the Hawaiian Electric Company website: For eight years, Hawaii Electric Light Company operated the Hawaii Geothermal Energy Project-Wellsite A, a 3-megawatt power plant.
In the 1980s, the “Hawaii Deep Water Cable ” study was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Hawaiian Electric Company was the prime contractor for the study with the actual research work done by a number of subcontractors.
Completed in 1990, the multi-year research project concluded that transmitting geothermal electricity from Hawaii Island to Oahu was technically feasible. However, the State did not pursue the project due to high costs and possible environmental impacts related to the project at a time when oil prices remained relatively low.
