The developers of a long-delayed project to cool buildings in downtown Honolulu with a seawater air-conditioning system Monday announced the signing of an investor that will provide $1 million toward the effort.
The investment by Ulupono Initiative, a Hawaii-based social investment fund started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam, will help Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning begin construction sometime next year, the two companies announced.
The $250 million project was proposed a decade ago, and its tentative start date has been rolled back several times due to financing and other problems. The company, an affiliate of Minnesota-based Ever-Green Energy LLC, first announced plans for the district cooling system in 2004 with expectations of having a system running by mid-2007.
The project is being funded by a mix of state revenue bonds and private equity. The company has signed up at least four major customers in the central business district and in Kakaako.
Ulupono officials said the seawater air-conditioning project matches its investment guidelines because it is aligned with increasing the use of renewable energy, one of the organization’s major goals.
"The system promises significant savings in energy that will help move us closer to our goal of more renewable energy for the state," said Murray Clay, Ulupono managing partner.
Under the plan, shafts will be drilled under the sea floor to house pipes that will transfer cold seawater from a depth of 1,700 feet off the Kakaako shoreline to a heat exchanger connected with a closed loop of fresh water that’s chilled and delivered to buildings for air conditioning.
The developer said using 44-degree seawater instead of electricity to cool buildings will cut electricity costs by 75 percent and save an estimated 77 million kilowatt-hours of power a year.
That’s enough to power more than 10,000 homes a year and eliminate the need to burn 178,000 barrels of oil a year, the company said.
The system also reduces potable water consumption for air conditioning by more than 260 million gallons and avoids annual emission of 84,000 tons of carbon dioxide — the equivalent of removing 15,000 cars from the road, Honolulu Seawater said.
