Wind Farms Sped Up On Molokai And Lanai

By MARK NIESSE

HONOLULU (AP) -- Three energy companies are teaming up to build wind farms on Hawaii's more rural islands to feed electricity to Honolulu.

The companies agreed to work together to harness wind power on the islands of Molokai and Lanai, speeding up the process by at least a year by foregoing a bidding war.

The wind farms would eventually feed into an interisland underwater cable system that government leaders envision would connect the islands' separate power grids.

First Wind and Castle & Cooke Hawaii consented to building smaller wind projects together rather than competing to develop bigger wind farms. Their energy would then be sold to Hawaiian Electric Co., which is part of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HE Quote)

"We could not let the competitive nature of private companies stand in the way of moving forward," said Harry Saunders, president of Castle & Cooke Hawaii, at a news conference Tueasday in the state Capitol.

Each wind farm would start at 200 megawatts rather than the companies' planned 400-megawatt systems. The companies noted that their collaborative effort may end after the early phase, and then they would start competing for the ability to provide Hawaii's renewable power.