Published: 7 May 2021, 09:29 By: Rendering of Plus Power's Kapolei Energy Storage I project. Image: Plus Power. Approval has been granted — with significant conditions attached — for a large-scale standalone battery storage project designed to help the Hawaiian island of Oahu overcome energy reliability and supply concerns as a coal power plant retires. Regulator Hawaiian Public Utilities Commission (PUC), approved a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in September 2020 by the state’s main utility, Hawaiian Electric, for energy dispatched from Kapolei Energy Storage I, a 185MW / 565MWh battery facility under development by Plus Power. The developer’s project was one of 16 solar-plus-storage and standalone storage projects proposals awarded contracts by Hawaiian Electric in a competitive solicitation process that went on considerably longer than anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The utility contracted for a total of 460MW of solar and 3GWh of energy storage across the state’s main islands.