Hawaiian Electric to buy power from large solar facility

HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaiian Electric is agreeing to buy power from what could become Hawaii’s largest solar facility.

New Jersey-based NRG plans to build a 49-megawatt solar array on Oahu’s North Shore.

Under the agreement Hawaiian Electric will buy power from NRG for about 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The two companies announced the agreement Monday. It has to be approved by the Public Utilities Commission before it’s finalized.

Hawaiian Electric also plans to buy solar power from two other planned NRG solar projects on Oahu. The three solar arrays are expected to be operational in 2019 and to produce 110 megawatts of electricity.

All three solar projects were originally proposed by SunEdison. NRG acquired the projects last year after SunEdison filed for bankruptcy protection.