State Land Board approves final EIS for Kaheawa Wind 1 continued use for 20 years

The Hawaiʻi Board of Land and Natural Resources has accepted a final environmental impact statement for Kaheawa Wind Power LLC’s application to keep its 20 wind-power generators operating above Māʻalaea for another two decades.

In November, the operator of Maui’s oldest wind farm completed a final environmental impact statement as part of its request for a 25-year lease to use state land from the state land board. The board’s action is another step toward Kaheawa’s continued use of the property where 30 megawatts of renewable energy is generated from brisk winds blowing through Central Maui’s isthmus.

The project’s current land lease and power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric are set to expire in 2026.

If approved, the “continued use project” would allow the facility to operate through late 2046, followed by a two-year decommissioning and restoration period.

According to the final EIS, the applicant is not proposing any new construction or physical modifications to the existing wind farm. The project would use the 20 existing GE 1.5se wind turbines, which stand 296 feet tall at the blade tip, along with the existing substation and operations building located in the Kaheawa Pastures area of the West Maui Mountains.

The project requires multiple government approvals to proceed, including:

• Board of Land and Natural Resources: Approval of the Habitat Conservation Plan, and issuance of a new land lease.
• Public Utilities Commission: Approval of the new power purchase agreement.
• US Fish and Wildlife Service: Issuance of an incidental take permit.

The current timeline anticipates the new power agreement taking effect in late 2026.