Wind Power in Hawaii

Hawaii has wind resources consistent with utility-scale production. Good-to-excellent wind resource areas are fairly evenly distributed throughout the islands. The largest contiguous areas are located on the western parts of Molokai and Lanai, on the western and southern shores of Maui and Kahoolawe, and on the northern and southern tips of Hawaii. There are also localized high wind resource areas on the islands and Kauai and Oahu.
The Department of Energy's Wind Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed a fresh wind power map for the island of Hawaii. This informational diagram indicates wind speed estimates at 150 feet above ground level and indicates the supply that might be used for wind energy companies. Future plans are to present wind speed estimates at 30 meters, which are valuable for locating small windpower generation opportunities.

A renewable energy source, wind is classified according to wind power classes, these are created from typical air velocity. These classes range from Class 1 (the least) to Class 7 (the highest). In general, at 150 feet , wind speed Class 4 or greater can be functional for making wind energy with sizeable turbines. Class 4 and higher are deemed high-quality energy supplies. Special areas in the Class 3 regions could have greater wind power class values at 80 meters than revealed on the 50 meter map as a result of possible elevated wind shear. Because of the improvements in technology, some zones in the Class 3 zones may correct for utility-scale wind power development.