Hawaiian Electric Co. is requesting proposals on 100 MW of renewable projects on the island of Oahu. The solicitation was approved June 19 and bids are due Sept. 25, says Colton Ching, director of strategic
initiatives in Honolulu.

Ching says the utility has no preference for one type of generation over another, though he noted First Wind, formerly UPC Wind, and Shell WindEnergy both submitted comments to the utility during the RFP review process and are expected to bid. In all, more than 30 entities expressed interest, he notes, declining to identify them. A call to Mike Gresham, manager of First Wind's Hawaii project development unit in Pukalani, was not returned and a spokesman at Shell WindEnergy in The Hague was not available.

In 2006, a competitive bidding framework was established for all new generation in the state. The utility is allowed to participate in building generation, but there is a third-party provision to ensure fairness. IPPs can propose a project at any time, but the proposal must then go through a waiver process since it would not be the RFP route. "We get requests for proposals all the time," says Ching.

HECO will purchase power from the new projects on Oahu under 20-year PPAs. The island