SNG

It has become abundantly clear over the past couple of years that energy transition isn’t going to be a straight line leading directly to abundant carbon-free power and a net-zero world. All sorts of obstacles have popped up, indicating that the energy industry’s trilemma of availability, reliability and affordability not only clash with each other, they can also conflict with environmental priorities. The challenge is being felt now in Hawaii, where a commitment to expanding energy production from renewable sources and tamping down the use of fossil fuels while also keeping prices under control and reducing pollution is turning out to be no easy feat. In today’s RBN blog, we look at Hawaii’s recent efforts to phase out coal- and oil-fired power generation, why that’s turned out to be easier said than done, and what it all means for environmental performance and energy prices.

It’s been two years since Hawaii’s electric and natural gas utilities made their first, tentative moves toward ending their dependence on crude oil (for power generation and the production of synthetic natural gas) by shipping in liquefied natural gas (LNG) from western Canada and the U.S. mainland. While Hawaii Gas has secured state regulatory approval to ramp up the number of LNG-filled ISO containers it receives, the gas utility and Hawaiian Electric have so far failed to agree on a comprehensive LNG plan. Also, some state officials remain concerned that simply replacing oil with LNG will undermine Hawaii’s plan to get all its electricity from renewable sources by 2045. Today, we provide an update of the Aloha State’s fits-and-starts transition to LNG.

It seems increasingly likely that Hawaii’s electric utility and gas utility will be leading the Aloha State through a multi-year transition from an oil-based economy to one founded largely on liquefied natural gas—most of it sourced from Western Canada. Hawaii Gas, which currently makes syngas from naphtha, has proposed a two-step transition to LNG that begins with ISO container shipments and follows up with bulk shipments. That meshes well with Hawaiian Electric’s plan—also a two-stepper. Today, we up update our recent series on Hawaii’s big-wave move to LNG-based natural gas.