Honolulu reviews H-POWER operations, ash‑recovery plan and potential replacement technologies

Roger Babcock, director of the Department of Environmental Services, gave the committee an overview of Honolulu’s waste‑to‑energy operations and plans to reduce ash sent to Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.

Babcock said H-POWER, the city’s waste‑to‑energy complex, runs multiple lines and currently exports about 70 megawatts of electricity to Hawaiian Electric. “The net output when everything’s running is 70 megawatts,” he said, and later stated that the city’s electricity revenue from the facility “equates to about $70,000,000 per year.”

Why it matters: H-POWER’s energy sales and the volume of ash it produces affect landfill demand, city revenue and choices about future facilities. Babcock told the committee the city is pursuing an ash processing project intended to reduce ash volumes and recover additional metals and construction aggregate from…