This story was originally published by Canary Media.
Hawai’i shut down its last coal plant on September 1, 2022, eliminating 180 megawatts of fossil-fueled baseload power from the grid on O’ahu — a crucial step in the state’s first-in-the-nation commitment to cease burning fossil fuels for electricity by 2045.
But the move posed a question that’s becoming increasingly urgent as clean energy surges across the United States: How do you maintain a reliable grid while switching from familiar fossil plants to a portfolio of small and large renewables that run off the vagaries of the weather?
Now Hawai’i has an answer: It’s a gigantic battery, unlike the gigantic batteries that have been built before.
The Kapolei Energy Storage system actually began commercial operations before Christmas on the industrial west side of…