Army to lease land to HECO for biodiesel-fueled power project
Photo: U.S. Army
February 16, 2016
BY Erin Voegele
The Army has announced the availability of the record of decision (ROD) to lease land and grant easements on Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield to Hawaii Electric Co. (HECO) for the development of a 50 MW biodiesel-fueled power plant, known as the Schofield Generating Station. The ROD applies to the construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of the power plant along with associated power poles, high-tension power lines, and related equipment and facilities.
According to a notice published in the Federal Register, the action was the preferred alternative identified in the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed project. The EIS evaluated the impacts on land use, airspace use, visual resources, air quality, noise, traffic and transportation, water resources, geology and soils, biological resources, cultural resources, hazardous and toxic substances, socioeconomics, and utilities and infrastructure.
Advertisement
The notice explains that the ROD identifies potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with the project, none of which were found to be significant adverse effects.
The Army is expected to lease HECO 8.13 acres of land to develop the power plant, along with a 2.5-acre interconnection easement. Power generated by the plant will ordinarily supply power to all HECO customers through the island-wide electrical grid. During outages that meet certain criteria, plant output would first be provided to certain Army facilities, up to their peak demand of 32 MW. In the event of a full island outage, the generating station could be used to restart other generating stations on the island.
Advertisement
The Army published a notice announcing its intent to prepare a joint environmental impact statement for the project in early 2014. In December 2014, Wärtsilä Corp. announced plans to supply a 50 MW Smart Power Generation power plant to HECO as part of the Schofield Barracks project. A few months later, in early 2015, the Army opened a comment period on its draft environmental impact statement for the project.
Additional information is available on the Federal Register website.
For more information about the Army’s renewable energy projects, including the Schofield Generating Station, click here.
Related Stories
Luxury North Dakota FBO, Overland Aviation—together with leading independent fuel supplier, Avfuel Corp.— on May 19 announced it accepted a 8,000-gallon delivery of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on May 12.
Neste and FedEx, the world’s largest express cargo airline, have agreed on the supply of 8,800 metric tons (more than 3 million gallons) of blended Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to FedEx at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Wheels Up Experience Inc. on May 6 announced the launch of its new SAF program, under which Wheels Up will partner with Delta Air Lines to purchase SAF, allowing private fliers to participate regardless of their flight operator or departure airport.
Germany-based Mabanaft on April 17 announced it started to supply SAF to airlines at Frankfurt Airport in January. The company said it will deliver more than 1,000 metric tons of SAF to the airport this year under the European SAF mandate.
easyJet and ATOBA Energy, in partnership with World Fuel Services, announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the development of long-term supply of SAF for easyJet’s operations in Europe and the U.K.
Upcoming Events
