AES Distributed Energy (AES), a division of The AES Corporation, was selected by Hawaiian Electric Companies to develop and operate two new utility-scale solar plus storage facilities at Oahu, Hawaii. One will be a 19.5 MW solar  project with a 35 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), and the other will be a 60 MW solar project with a 240 MWh BESS.

The two projects are expected to generate a total of 137,000 MWh of renewable energy, serving over 23,000 homes.

As an early step in the development process, AES will hold public meetings to engage with the community and gather feedback on the upcoming projects. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the meetings will be held virtually. The project updates and opportunities for input will continue throughout the development and construction process. Details on the upcoming community meetings will be announced at a later date.

Construction of these projects is expected to begin in 2022. The projects are expected to commission by 2023.

According to the press release, AES DE currently operates more than 50 MW of solar and solar plus storage projects across Hawaii, including the 28 MW/100 MWh Lawa’i solar plus storage project on Kaua’i as well as another 100 MW of solar plus storage projects under development on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Islands.