March 30, 2012
Hawaii

Apollo Energy removing old wind turbines on Big Island

Duane Shimogawa, Reporter - Pacific Business News, www.bizjournals.com 29 March 2012

Apollo Energy Corp., the owner of the defunct Kamaoa Wind Farm off South Point Road on the Big Island, plans to take down all of its 37 rusted and out-of-shape Mitsubishi wind turbines by the end of this week.

It then plans to lease the 91 acres of land at the southern tip of the Big Island to cattle ranchers.

Details of this new venture are still to be worked out.

Steven Pace, CEO of the San Francisco-based company, told PBN that as of Thursday all but four of the towering structures had been taken down.

He said Isemoto Contracting Co. Ltd. is helping with the removal of the turbines, but would not say how much it is charging the Hilo-based firm for the project.

“We looked at selling the turbines, but deals have fallen through, mostly because they were out of date and not in very good condition,” Pace said.

Instead, Apollo Energy has decided to sell them as scrap metal in China, where Pace said it would be worth the most.

It is currently in the process of looking for a local scrap metal company to help prepare it for sale.

The metal will be stored on the South Point Road land until it is sold.

A year ago, Pace told PBN that removing the turbines would cost about $1 million and that its scrap metal would net only about $300,000.

The Kamaoa Wind Farm came online in 1987 and was decommissioned five years ago after its 20-year contract expired.

It has been a point of contention for residents who view it as an eyesore, but it also has become a must-see tourist attraction for visitors on that part of the Big Island.

While the closure of one of Apollo Energy’s projects in that area nears, it is not getting out of the wind farm business.

Apollo Energy, through a joint venture with EFS-G LLC, owns the Tawhiri Power LLC Pakini Nui Wind Farm.

The 21-megawatt facility, which is located just seven miles from the old Kamaoa wind farm, began commercial production in April 2007.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/03/30/apollo-energy-removing-old-wind-turbines-on-big-island/