Hawaii governor against LNG power generation

Hawaii’s governor David Ige said on Tuesday he continues to be against liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation as the U.S. state is looking to meet its ambitious “clean energy” goals.

Hawaii plans to have 100 percent of its electricity coming from renewable energy by 2045.

“I continue to believe LNG does not have a future for electrical power generation,” Ige said during his speech at the 8th Annual Hawaii Clean Energy Day.

“I believe it will be a distraction from the core task at hand, and we need to focus on renewable energy as the way to lower energy costs and make Hawaii energy self-sufficient as soon as possible ,” he said.

Ige said in August last year that Hawaii should focus on developing renewable energy rather than building LNG import facilities.

Ige initially was not against LNG as a transitional fuel from oil to renewables but changed his mind partly due to declining oil gas prices saying there would not be any potential economic benefits of replacing oil-fired generation with gas-fired generation.

To remind, Hawaiian Electric Companies (HECO) in July terminated the LNG supply deal it signed with Canada’s FortisBC.

Hawaiian Electric withdrew its application to the Hawaiian Public Utilities Commission for approval of the LNG supply deal with Fortis Hawaii Energy, following the dismissal of its merger with NextEra Energy.

The 20-year deal envisaged the supply of 800,000 metric tons of LNG per year from FortisBC’s Tilbury LNG facility in British Columbia to Hawaii Electric.

LNG World News Staff