Honolulu, Hawaii Energy-from-Waste Expansion Project

Covanta operates and maintains the H-POWER Energy-from-Waste facility (operating as Covanta Honolulu Resource Recovery Venture) located in and owned by the City and County of Honolulu in Hawaii. In December 2009, Covanta entered into agreements with the City and County of Honolulu to expand H-POWER’s waste processing capacity from 2,160 tons per day (tpd) to 3,060 tpd and to increase the gross electricity capacity from 57 megawatts (MW) to 90MW. The agreement also extends our contract to operate the facility by 20 years. The $302 million expansion project is a fixed-price construction contract which will be funded and owned by the City and County of Honolulu. Construction commenced at the end of 2009.

After the expansion, H-POWER’s output will constitute approximately 84 MW, representing eight percent of the island’s electricity, a major contribution to the island of Oahu’s goal of becoming more self-sufficient in terms of energy production.  On an annual basis, the expanded facility will offset the need to burn nearly one million barrels of oil.  In addition to these environmental benefits, the expansion will provide a much needed boost to the local economy, generating approximately 300 construction jobs as well as additional jobs to operate and maintain the facility once completed.

Upon completion, H-POWER’s expanded capacity will minimize the need for landfills to help preserve land on the island, while also providing residents with additional clean, renewable energy to reduce their dependence on imported oil.