Company Profile
Puna Geothermal Venture
Company Overview
At Puna Geothermal Venture, state-of-the-art technology generates power by tapping deep into the heart of the Big Island of Hawaii—to the vast underground cauldron of Kilauea’s volcanic heat—converting steam into electricity for Hawaii Island residents.
Puna Geothermal Venture is the only commercial producer of geothermal energy in Hawaii, quietly producing geothermal-generated electricity for Hawaii Electric Light Company, working to be a good neighbor, and a steady supplier of power.
Company History
Geothermal exploration in Hawaii began in the 1960s. A public-private partnership dug the first geothermal well in Puna in 1976. The project developed into a three-megawatt power plant that went online in July 1981. The plant’s output was sorely needed at the time, due to island-wide energy shortages, and it continued for eight years. However, the plant was never intended as a commercial operation. Production ceased in 1989 as the plant failed to meet rising community and regulatory standards.
In the early 1990s, Puna Geothermal Venture, a partnership between two mainland power companies, received a permit to produce renewable geothermal energy at a site in Puna in the East Rift Zone. The facility went online in 1993. Under a Power Purchase Agreement with Hawaii Electric Light Company, it delivers 25-30 megawatts of firm renewable energy on a continuous basis. The facility could provide much more.
Hawaii Island is located above a volcanically active “hot spot” in the earth’s mantle and has the most potential of all the isles for electrical generation and the direct uses of heat. Despite being restricted to the Big Island of Hawaii, geothermal produces about 31 percent of Hawaii’s renewable energy resources statewide. Its potential remains largely untapped.
When Ormat Technologies, Inc. acquired Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) on Hawaii Island in June 2004, the state’s most reliable alternate renewable energy source entered a major new phase.
PGV has been quietly producing geothermal-generated electricity for Hawaii Electric Light Company for years, working to be a good neighbor, and a steady supplier of power. Since becoming part of Ormat, a company with considerable depth in geothermal knowledge, PGV has undergone substantial upgrades.
Puna Geothermal Venture is the only commercial producer of geothermal energy in Hawaii.
The 30-megawatt (MW) PGV plant uses air-cooled condensers and noise reduction enclosures. It is a low-profile plant, 24 feet high, and has near zero emissions. One hundred percent of its geothermal fluid and gas is reinjected into the deep earth.