Build-out at Island Palm Communities Follows Successful 10-Month Pilot Program
Honolulu, HI – (March 27, 2023) – Lendlease, a leading real estate and investment group that manages almost 8,000 homes for the U.S. Army on Oahu, and Holu Hou Energy (HHE), a provider of design-to-service solar plus energy storage systems, have signed a contract to install HHE’s HoluPower energy storage and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on homes at Lendlease’s Island Palm Communities.
The installations will come in the form of HHE’s EnergyCluster, where multiple residential units have their systems connected in an energy network or “cluster.” Excess solar generation from any unit’s system in the network that would normally be lost is directly shared in real-time with other connected units that have load above solar generation. The benefit is that the optimized PV and energy storage systems can meet 75-80% or more of the overall residents’ energy needs while not exporting power to the utility grid.
“Lendlease Communities is proud to partner with Holu Hou Energy on this innovative renewable energy project, which will not only improve the quality of life for military families at Island Palm Communities but also contribute to a more resilient and stable electric grid in Oahu,” said Matt Lynn, SVP, Energy & Utilities at Lendlease. “This partnership further solidifies our commitment to developing sustainable communities using cutting-edge technology.”
Lendlease and HHE began initial planning in 2021, which culminated in constructing a “pilot” project in May 2022. Since then, the pilot has been operating with outstanding results across six residential units. In a typical month, approximately a third of the total generated electricity is shared with other units in the “cluster” thereby solving issues related to vacancy and resident load variability, while proving out the superior value created through a clustered approach versus stand-alone systems.
The savings realized by Island Palm Communities through deployment of HHE’s systems is being reinvested to enhance the housing and amenities Lendlease offers to military families on the installation. Additionally, residents now have resilient back-up power that can be utilized during grid outage events. These systems also take a load burden off the Oahu electric grid, which improves overall stability.
Each residential unit will have approximately 10kW of PV and 25 kWh of energy storage, with six residences typically being connected in an HHE EnergyShare network. Construction is set to begin summer of 2023, with initial installations at the Aliamanu Military Reservation near Honolulu.
About Lendlease
Lendlease (www.lendlease.com) is a leading global real estate and investment group with operations in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Our purpose is to create places where communities thrive. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, Lendlease has approximately 7,700 employees internationally. Our core capabilities are reflected in our operating segments of Development, Construction and Investments. The combination of these three segments provides us with a sustainable competitive advantage and allows us to provide innovative integrated solutions for our customers.
In the US, Lendlease’s Communities business is one of the nation’s leaders in public/private community development. We manage one of the largest military housing portfolios in the US and are the Army’s exclusive partner for lodging. With a focus on creating sustainable value, Lendlease creates communities that regenerate our environment, enrich people’s lives and foster economic growth. Lendlease has worked extensively with the Department of Defense through the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), a program that provides for the transfer of military housing assets to private sector companies. With over 40,000 residential units, 192 apartments and more than 12,000 hotel rooms in its portfolio, Lendlease will finance, develop, build, renovate and operate these sites for at least 50 years.
About Holu Hou Energy, LLC
Holu Hou Energy, LLC, a Delaware Corporation, brings state-of-the-art renewable energy and energy storage systems to the Single-Family Residential, Multi-Dwelling Unit Residential and Commercial building markets. With operations in California, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Shanghai, HHE engineers proprietary storage system and control platform solutions, including a breakthrough “HHE EnergyShare” technology that is key to development of the Multi-Dwelling Unit Residential housing market. HHE is a vital partner for investors and asset owners that are seeking ESG solutions.
