To help it better manage its fuel costs
Hawaii Gas, which became the first utility in the state to begin shipping liquefied natural gas to the Islands in April, is making a move to bring in even more of this fuel to Hawaii to help it better manage its fuel costs.
The state's only franchised gas utility said Thursday that it has filed an application with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to increase the volume of LNG shipments for its synthetic natural gas pipeline. Currently, the Honolulu-based company is using the LNG as a backup fuel for its SNG operations.
In late July, Hawaii Gas said it is seeking regulatory approval to bring in shipments of LNG from an additional unnamed fuel supplier as a backup source. The effort is part of Hawaii Gas' existing "backup enhancement project," which aims to provide substantially increased backup capacity for its synthetic natural gas customers.
The first shipment of LNG, which totaled about 7,000 gallons, was shipped in a 40-foot container to a Hawaii Gas facility at Pier 38 in Honolulu where it was regassified using a mobile vaporizer and injected into the company's system.