The U.S. Navy’s Solar Energy Project on the Waipio Peninsula of Oahu

Rick Williams
Jul 22, 2017 · 1 min read

While in the Navy, Rear Admiral Rick Williams served as commander of Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific. During his time in these posts, he was involved with a 17-megawatt solar project on the Waipio Peninsula near Pearl Harbor. At the time, it was the Navy’s largest solar energy project in Hawaii. In 2014, Rear Admiral Rick Williams detailed the project’s goals for the Ho’okele-Pearl Harbor-Hickam News in an article entitled “Energy Goals II: Focus on Navy Region Hawaii.”

The site of the Waipio solar project spans 42 acres. Projections for the project estimated that the solar panels would, when complete, generate 33,400 megawatt hours of electricity per year, meeting roughly 14 percent of the region’s energy needs. The project’s goals included saving taxpayers $1.6 million in the first year of operation, sparing 54,000 barrels of imported oil, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tons.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the project occurred on July 24, 2014, and the project was completed and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 28, 2017.

Rick Williams
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