KANE'OHE BAY — The Marines, who pride themselves on being bold, want to build the state's largest photovoltaic solar farm and a biofuel electricity-producing plant on base, both of which would not only meet all of the Marines' power needs by 2015, but exceed them, officials said.

A multi-megawatt solar array, which would wrap part way around and dominate the radar-topped Kansas Tower Hill, is expected to be started in the fall of 2009 and could be generating power half a year later, said Col. Robert Rice, who commands Marine Corps Base Hawai'i.

The biofuel plant, which could run on locally-grown palm oil or sugar cane, and JP-5 jet fuel in an emergency, is expected to be developed closer to 2015, and would go a long way in meeting the Marine Corps base's 13- to 20-megawatt power needs.

"I'm 100 percent sure that we can get there (energy self-sustainment) by 2020, but I want to be more aggressive in that goal, and I want to get there by 2015," Rice said.

The ambitious plans are part of a wave of renewable and alternative energy projects the Defense Department's four services — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines — will be pursuing in Hawai'i in coming years.

Solar, wind, thermal, biodiesel, wave and hydrogen power are among the technologies on the table.

The Pentagon sorely wants to reduce its dependence on foreign fossil fuels, and that fact, coupled with evolving technologies and state and federal mandates, is turning competing camouflage in the U.S. armed forces a uniform shade of energy green.

The services pooled their needs in Hawai'i, and a collective "request for proposal" for renewable energy projects is expected to go out within a year, according to the Navy, which was given oversight for the plan.

The combined approach follows years of less-than-burning interest in renewable projects, due in part to cost. But that was when oil was $65 a barrel and had yet to rise to July's high of more than $147, before dropping to $50 last week with the economic meltdown.

MUM ON PLANS

An industry renewable energy forum was held by the military in Hawai'i in August of 2007.

Before that, "we weren't getting a lot of interest," said Kendall Kam, project manager for renewable energy initiatives for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific. "So we were asking individuals at this forum ... if we combined all of our requests, would it be more attractive to industry, and they said, 'Yes.' "

Because the official "request for proposal" hasn't gone out, both the military and representatives within the renewable energy field have been reluctant to talk about the pending plan.

"They do have some aggressive initiatives that they are doing," is about all Kam would say.

The Army said it is still developing project plans that would fall under such a renewable energy contract.

Keith Yamanaka, energy manager for the Army in Hawai'i, said the service will be looking at the possibility of buying renewable power from an off-post producer, but regulatory questions remain about the ability to do so.

The Navy didn't want megawatt specifics publicized for the Marine Corps solar farm and biodiesel plant, saying the release of the figures before the official proposal came out could lead to future contract disputes.

The Defense Department is the largest energy consumer in the nation. In 1973, 1978 and 1990, oil price spikes caused by Middle East crises helped push the U.S. into recession. Pricing and oil availability also have become strategic concerns.

The military in Hawai'i wants to be less dependent on Hawaiian Electric Co., whose rates are tied to the price of petroleum. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Hawai'i depends on imported fossil fuels for 90 percent of its energy.

Based on 2007 data, HECO said the military represents about 15 percent of the total kilowatt hours sold on O'ahu. According to one state official, the military is HECO's biggest customer.

Both the state and Defense Department now have mandates for renewable energy sources.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires federal agencies to produce or procure 3 percent of their energy from renewable energy sources from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal 2009. The goal increases incrementally to 5 percent and 7.5 percent in 2013 and beyond.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2007, meanwhile, requires installations to produce or procure 25 percent of their energy from renewable energy sources by fiscal 2025.

"People need to recognize there's no going back to the way we used to do things," said Ted Peck, energy administrator for the state. "We're all feeling out how to create a new future for ourselves (with renewable energy), and we're excited about the military's participation in that."

Peck said he believes Hawai'i will see more and more large- and small-scale photovoltaic energy-producing projects.

"The cost of PV (photovoltaic) is going down, and the cost of energy is going up," Peck said.

Actus Lend Lease, which is building more than 5,000 Army homes, renovating 2,500 others and managing the family housing for the Army, said roof-mounted photovoltaic systems eventually will generate 6 megawatts of power, and provide up to 30 percent of the community's power needs.

PROJECT PARTNERS

When complete, the Army Hawai'i Family Housing project will be one of the largest residential solar-powered communities in the world.

For comparison purposes, Peck said the peak energy usage for all of O'ahu is about 1,200 to 1,300 megawatts, and an average home can utilize 3 to 4 kilowatts.

The state's current largest solar farm, on Lana'i, is expected to produce 1.5 megawatts. The Castle & Cooke project on 10 acres was built by the SunPower Corp., which also put in a mammoth 140-acre solar array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

The $100 million system, producing 14 megawatts, went into service in December.

The Marine Corp's Rice said the plan with both the solar farm and electricity-producing biodiesel plant is to lease land to a private industry "partner," and have the partner build and operate the facilities.

Nonmilitary businesses that run such power producers could get the state and federal tax credits for renewable energy projects that the military can't receive.

The Marine Corps base would buy power, "but it will be at a much lower rate than we're paying HECO right now," Rice said.

Some in the renewable industry question whether HECO will support such plans.

HECO said in a statement that "given the importance of the military as a customer (with its own special needs and national security responsibilities) and the critical need to get as much renewable energy online as possible, Hawaiian Electric is very committed to working with the military to help them meet their energy needs, both from a reliability and renewable energy standpoint."

The company said if the military wants to lease military-owned land to an independent power producer who provides power only to the military and does not use the HECO grid, it can do so.

But it added that very large-sized generation projects may need to utilize the HECO grid. Renewable energy from intermittent sources like solar and wind still would require HECO generation back-up.

SOME WORK UNDER WAY

The military in Hawai'i already is pursuing a slew of renewable power projects big and small, as well as some aggressive conservation efforts.

Hickam Air Force Base has a hydrogen-production station for hydrogen-operated vehicles, and the Army said it will pursue something similar on the Big Island.

The Navy has a 309-kilowatt photovoltaic roof-mounted array on Ford Island, plans for several other PV projects, and will be looking at salt-water cooling technology for some of its buildings.

The Marine Corps base has photovoltaics on two barracks producing 65 kilowatts, and has plans for more.

About a mile offshore, meanwhile, testing continues on the latest version of the PowerBuoy, a 12-foot diameter by 55-foot-long device that uses waves to produce energy.

Rice, the Marine Corps base commander, said plastic-covered holes in hangar roofs provide natural light, new houses have solar water heaters, and when the base runway is shut down in mid-December for two and a half months for asphalt work, all the runway lights will be replaced with LEDs to save power.

In the base newspaper, Rice recently told fellow Marines, "I want us to turn up our level of green intensity, to take it to an entirely new level."

He wants to turn up the level so much, he hopes the base will someday have an overabundance of green, especially if and when a biofuel plant is built to produce electricity.

"I'm not a legislator, and I don't know, but we think by the time this one comes online, that we'll be able to produce power and get paid for power by HECO," Rice said.

The Marines are currently testing the PowerBuoy, which features a pistonlike device that rises and falls with ocean waves. The piston's movement drives a generator that produces electricity, which is sent by cable to shore.

Sunlight hits a photovoltaic panel, provoking electron reaction; the movement of electrons produces a current. The current is captured in the silicon panel and is directed to an inverter, which turns it into electricity needed for power use.