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A booming Hawaiian company aims to establish a second waste-to-energy power plant on Oahu using technology claimed to be superior to the city’s longtime H-POWER facility.
Details of the plan, however, have not been made public despite the company’s efforts to obtain state approval to issue special municipal bonds. Bonds help private entities obtain low-cost financing for projects that provide public benefit in certain industries.
Honolulu-based Next Level Solutions Group Inc., which was incorporated in August, is asking the Legislature for authority to issue and sell $50 million in special purpose revenue bonds to help fund a waste-to-energy gasification project in Honolulu.
Such bonds, if approved and sold, would be a debt of the company – not of the state – as a public service operation that can provide a public benefit in exchange for advantageous financing.
Next Level, led by local residents Anthony Hong and Danny Kim, says its planned project will reduce pollutants in the air and land while reducing the amount of trash that goes into Oahu’s municipal landfill, compared to H -POWER.
The company also told lawmakers that an initial phase of its planned project would complement H-POWER by focusing on recycled waste, medical waste and other exported waste. In later phases, Next Level said it could turn the waste into building materials, hydrogen, biodiesel and other by-products.
House Bill 1682, which would authorize the issuance of an indefinite amount of tax bonds for Next Level, was passed by two House committees, the House of Representatives in a 45-2 vote and , more recently, three Senate committees.
A few environmental groups who oppose burning more waste testified against the permit.
Ted Bohlen of Climate Protectors Hawai’i said in written testimony that waste buried in landfills can produce the harmful greenhouse gas methane, and that turning waste into electricity can also generate carbon and other greenhouse gases that pollute the atmosphere.
“It is unclear whether the project would be in the public interest,” he said. “Being better than H-POWER does not necessarily mean that a project is in the public interest. Whether this project benefits or harms the climate must be determined through careful life cycle greenhouse gas analysis.
Nicole Chatterson, executive director of Zero Waste O’ahu, noted in written testimony that a recently completed 10-year city waste management strategy prioritizes waste reduction.
“This action does not advance that priority and is out of step with the priorities of the county and the residents who live here,” she said. “Creating more waste-to-energy infrastructure will not help us reduce the amount of waste we have to manage, it will likely encourage and exacerbate waste generation.”
Although city officials did not testify about the bill, Markus Owens, public information officer for the city’s Department of Environmental Services, said H-POWER receives anything that can be burned. on the island.
H-POWER consumes about 2,000 tons of waste per day and reduces the volume of waste sent to the Kapolei municipal landfill by 90%, according to the city. The electricity produced by the plant generates about $70 million annually and is enough to power about 60,000 homes, or up to 10% of Oahu’s total demand.
Next Level representatives did not respond to multiple requests for additional information about its plans, including the potential size, location and timing of a proposed facility.
In testimony before the Legislative Assembly, Hong said Next Level’s planned project would reduce a ‘tremendous’ amount of waste going to landfill, and he explained the company had a license to use the technology of the South Korean company Hwa Seong B & Tec.
Hwa Seong, in a January promotional video, claims to have spent 13 years developing his technology, which includes what he calls the Cyclone Combuster. The company described its goal of establishing a large-scale waste conversion plant capable of generating energy sales valued at around $325,000 by May and becoming a global company.
In the video, Hwa Seong said his technology can treat household waste, industrial waste, medical waste and sewage sludge while expelling one-tenth the amount of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides per compared to other existing industrial technologies.
Hwa Seong also said the amount of ash generated from burning waste with his technology is 3% to 5%, compared to the more typical 15% to 20%.
H-POWER, which is operated by New Jersey-based Covanta in Campbell Industrial Park, dates back to 1990 but is doing or is doing some of the same things as Hwa Seong.
The facility consumes treated medical waste and in 2015 began accepting sewage sludge. Just over a year ago, the city announced an 11-year contract with Covanta to reduce the amount of H-POWER ash going to landfill by 60%, obtained by treating it and recycling it to make concrete, asphalt and other elements.
In the Legislative Assembly, during public hearings on the revenue bond bill for Next Level, there was little discussion of the details or merits of the company’s plan.
One of the few votes against the tax liability bill came from Sen. Laura Acasio (D, Hilo), who attempted to research Next Level and found little to go on.
Acasio, a member of the Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee, joined Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) as dissenters in a 3-2 committee vote March 21.
“To me, it’s not in the public interest,” she said. “Acting in the public interest requires us to drastically reduce the amount of waste we produce instead of relying on it as a source of fuel.”
The Senate Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism Committee voted 4-1 at the same hearing to approve HB 1682, and on Tuesday the Senate Ways and Means Committee did the same in an 11-to-vote. 0.
The bill is still subject to a full Senate vote and then further consideration by the House of Representatives.
If the measure is enacted, final bond issuance approval would rest with the State Department of Budget and Finance, which reviews issues such as the applicant’s experience, financial standing and ability to repay. bonds purchased by investors.
