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A proposed update to Honolulu’s land use ordinance could jeopardize the long-term survival of wind turbines in Kahuku that have been operating — and generating opposition — since 2011.

The land use changes being discussed by the Honolulu City Council would require new turbines to be built further from residences and structures.

The existing turbines could stay. And they could be repaired.

But because of changes in the wind power industry, the only available replacement blades might be bigger, and opponents believe that would give them leverage to have them phased out.

“It would be tragic to allow any loopholes that perpetuate this ongoing issue that Kahuku faces,” Kahuku Community Association president Sunny Unga testified at a mid-May council hearing.

Unga for years has led the charge against Kahuku’s wind turbines. Some residents say they are negatively impacted by noise and flickering shadows.

These residents advocate for the wind turbines’ removal — or at least eventual phasing out — and they hope that new setback requirements will help their cause.

These requirements would make most of the existing wind turbines non-conforming. Routine repairs are generally allowed on non-conforming structures, but only if those repairs don’t change their size.

The problem with most of Kahuku’s wind turbines is that their original blades are no longer manufactured, so replacements might have to be with bigger blades, making the structures taller. Opponents say this shouldn’t be allowed.

But supporters say the wind farms need to keep operating after their first power purchase agreement ends in 2031 to help the state attain its goal of .

“Without these wind machines or the ability of them to potentially continue beyond their current contract life, we’d have to replace that generation and those interconnection facilities, and those would all be paid for by customers,” Hawaiian Electric Co.’s Greg Shimokawa testified.  

Taller Turbines

HECO is contracted to purchase energy from the wind turbines for 20 years, but because they can last longer, the company wants the option to continue.

Wind turbines have a lifespan of about 30 years, as long as individual components like blades and gears .

Current setback requirements allow wind turbines to be placed at a distance equal to their height. 

Wind turbines 568 feet tall — like those built in Kahuku by AES Hawaii in 2020 — can be placed just 568 feet away from homes and schools, irking community members who complain about their sleep being interrupted by low frequency noise, shadow flicker — the repetitive effect of the rotating blades blocking the sun — and the potential of .

has been found between living near wind turbines and adverse health effects, despite widespread annoyance. 

The council is still deciding on a new setback standard.

Proposals include 10 times the height of the wind turbine or a flat 1.25 miles from any property line within the country, residential, apartment, apartment mixed-use or resort zoning districts or the higher of these two metrics.

A map produced by the State Energy Office shows that bigger setbacks would force turbines to be built higher on ridges.

Eighteen of Kahuku’s 20 wind turbines would be considered non-conforming with a 1.25-mile setback requirement, but those wind turbines wouldn’t have to be immediately removed.

Routine repairs are generally allowed on non-conforming structures. In addition, council members are debating whether to allow bigger blades to be used as replacements. They hope to finalize the language during a June hearing of the council’s committee on planning and the economy.

The State Energy Office recommends allowing wind turbine upgrades like replacement blades .

But opponents worry that allowing blades to be replaced with taller versions — especially beyond the end of their current power purchase agreements — could make the wind turbines a more permanent part of the landscape.

Non-conforming structures aren’t supposed to get taller, they say.

“The whole purpose of non-conforming uses is to phase out over time,” council member Matt Weyer said. 

How Pressing Are Repairs?

Kahuku is the site of two wind turbine farms. The first was built by First Wind, now owned by Terraform Power, and began operating in 2011 with 12 wind turbines. The second is owned by AES and began operating in 2020 with eight wind turbines. 

Terraform Power’s fleet is 13 years old, past the median age when wind turbines receive upgrades known as “partial repowering” . Some of its original components are no longer manufactured.

These wind turbines were some of the tallest in the country at about 420 feet high when they began operating in 2011. 

But the company that manufactured them has since downsized. Clipper Windpower in 2012, the year after it delivered 12 C96 Liberty models from its manufacturing plant in Iowa to Kahuku.

and manufacturing of new wind turbines stopped. Now, its sole focus is on repairing internal wind turbine components at its former manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids. 

“If there’s a component that we can repair in our facility for somebody, they’ll take it down from the turbine and send it to us,” Clipper Windpower’s corporate controller Matt Shaffers said.

That doesn’t include blades, which were manufactured by a South American company when the Liberty models were still in production. Any replacement blade would have to come from another manufacturer, and bigger blades may be all that are available. 

“It appears that the operators struggle to find blades that are necessarily smaller than what they have, especially because some of our facilities are smaller than what they would find in a lot of mainland facilities,” Elizabeth Krueger, Department of Planning and Permitting land use permitting division chief, said at the council hearing. 

Terraform Power did not respond to requests for comment, and did not discuss imminent repairs in its testimony.

If blade repairs aren’t allowed, then wind turbines may have to shut down at the end of their current power purchase agreements — earlier than their lifespans would allow, Krueger said. 

“That may not be in support of the state’s renewable energy goals,” she said.