San Diego Company Buys Auwahi Wind Energy

Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy recently announced the purchase of Auwahi Wind Energy on Maui from Shell WindEnergy Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell.

What is Auwahi Wind Energy up to lately? They are developing a 22-megawatt wind energy and batter storage project slated to begin around 2011 at Ulupalakua Ranch. The project could become active as early as 2012.

Dick Williams, the president of Shell WindEnergy explained that they sold Auwahi Wind Energy because they plan to focus on projects in the U.S. Mainland and Canada that are more in line with their "strategic direction." They have eight farms on the mainland with a capacity of 900 megawatts.

Up to 28 megawatt-hours of wind energy can be stored by the windmills of the Maui wind project. Sempra Generation intends to expand the energy storage capacity to 72 megawatt-hours and submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy to co-fund the costs that would come with such an expansion.

The plan would bring Maui one step closer to achieving the goal of getting 95 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

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