Exploration efforts in the '70s and '80s suggest that there may be more than 1,000 MW of geothermal reserves on Maui and the Big Island.
One of the most abundant renewable energy resources in the Hawaiian Islands is geothermal energy, but due to the eruption of the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island in early May and the subsequent shutdown of the state’s only geothermal power plant, Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV), its future is uncertain.
Though PGV owner Ormat Technologies Inc. intends to reopen the 38-megawatt facility as soon as possible, others advocate for new geothermal drilling sites that incorporate the use of safe, modern technologies.
“PGV is an old technology that has been around for decades and it’s not as efficient and not as safe as what’s being installed in many other countries around the world today,” state Rep. Chris Lee, chair of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, told PBN in a recent interview. “We definitely have the resources, not only on the Big Island, but in other places too, to do modern, safe geothermal power production.”
