Sempra scraps plans to build 300MW solar plant in Hawaii

Sempra US Gas & Power said it has scrapped plans to build a 300MW solar plant near Hawaii’s Pearl Harbour.

The project was expected to be built on land owned by the US Navy, when it was first announced last year.

Sempra US Gas & Power vice president of development Joe Rowley told Pacific Business News the company’s decision, after he spoke on a panel at the 2012 Asia-Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Rowley said there were no plans for new projects this year.

Sempra director of external affairs Scott Crider said an unsolicited proposal had been made in response to a posting on the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific Enhanced Use Lease website.

Sempra said it wanted the Navy to realise the potential use of the site and said the solar farm could have provided the Navy with electricity free of charge.

The company would have sold the power generated by the facility to Hawaiian Electric Company, if the project had gone ahead.

The $1bn project would have been one of the biggest solar farms in the country, reports Pacific Business News.