A new report from the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) suggests that the island of O’ahu could meet a quarter of its electricity needs using solar power and wind resources.

“The findings of this study show it is feasible to integrate large-scale wind and solar projects on Oahu but also have value beyond Hawaii. Both large mainland utilities and relatively small and/or isolated grids that wish to integrate significant amounts of renewable energy while maintaining reliability for their customers can learn from this study,” said Hawaii HNEI director Dr. Rick Rocheleau.

Hawaii is home to both the nation’s highest retail electricity prices and the most ambitious renewable energy standard. The HNEI study envisions integrating ”400 megawatts (MW) wind power from Molokai and Lanai supplied through an undersea cable combined with 100 MW of wind and 100 MW of solar power located on O’ahu.”

As a big importer of energy sources, Hawaii is taking meaningful steps to increase the amount of electricity it generates on the islands. The HNEI study suggests the 500 MW in total could help a good deal on this front:

[t]he electricity supplied from these sources would reduce Hawai’i's fossil fuel consumption by approximately 2.8 million barrels of low sulfur fuel oil and 132,000 tons of coal each year.

The full report (PDF) is available on HNEI website.