Kahuku Wind Farm

It looks like Oahu will be following Maui by supplying wind-generated energy to the island’s homes starting in 2011!  Kahuku, located on the island’s northern coast, is the current site for  12 massive turbines that will begin delivering electricity to Oahu next year.

Kahuku Wind construction has been in full swing for the past few months, and half of the turbines have already gone up.  The site of the Kahuku wind farm is just on the outskirts of Kahuku right past the shrimp ponds.  The turbines can be seen from Kamehameha Highway.

The company heading this project is First Wind, an independent North American wind energy company focused exclusively on the development, ownership and operation of wind farms.  They currently have farms in the northeastern and western regions of the U.S. and Hawaii (Maui), and are already producing 504 megawatts of energy through seven operating wind farms.  Kaheawa Wind on Maui is already operating and produces 9% of Maui’s annual electricity needs.

According to First Wind, Kahuku’s 12 turbines will produce enough energy to power 7,700 homes and eliminate the use of 155,000 barrels of oil a year.  First Wind has three other planned projects on Hawaii: another North Shore farm, one on Molokai, and one on Lanai.

Photo courtesy of AIS Photo (Flickr)