Dive Brief:

• Hawaiian Electric picked SolarCity to build a 15 megawatt (MW) solar farm on the island of Oahu. The 50-acre project will be adjacent to the 651 MW oil-fired Kahe Generating Station.
• The photovoltaic plant is expected to be in operation by the end of 2015. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• This is the second SolarCity project in the state. A cooperative on Kauai previously selected the company to build a 14 MW solar plant.

Dive Insight: 

Hawaii relies on oil for roughly 75% of its electricity generation and is in a hurry to wean itself from fossil fuels. Hawaiian Electric said the SolarCity project could produce power at a cost equal to a power purchase agreement with a price of 14.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The cost of power created by burning oil is 22.7 cents per kilowatt-hour.