The rolling foothills of the Ko'olau mountains near Kahuku may soon become the heart of efforts to churn out renewable energy on O'ahu as the state hustles to cut its nation-leading dependence on oil.

Developers of two wind farms hope to begin construction as early as next year on the projects that could provide 55 megawatts of power. One project calls for erecting 12 turbines, while the other would install 10 turbines and possibly expand with a similar number later.

Depending on the wind speed, a 1-megawatt turbine can provide power to 500 to 1,000 homes.

"Every day that we don't put these wind turbines in the ground is a day that we've lost a lot of money and energy," said Keith Avery, whose West Wind Works LLC has worked for more than two years on a 25-megawatt Kahuku project.

"Every time we don't have to buy a barrel of oil it helps the state."

The projects could be the vanguard of a number of renewable energy projects being planned for O'ahu, which lags Maui and the Big Island when it comes to wind power. Elsewhere on the island, Kamehameha Schools is studying putting a wind farm in in mountainous land it owns on the North Shore, while another early-stage proposal is looking at a 200-megawatt windfarm in the ocean off Campbell Industrial Park.

There also is talk of other possible O'ahu projects, including those dredging up cold sea water and using heat differences to produce electricity and those featuring ocean buoy generators. There is a possibility of biomass projects and solar farms of photovoltaic panels or those using technology in which curved mirrors are used to heat liquid.

HAWAI'I'S OIL ADDICTION

All the efforts point toward weaning the state from oil. Unlike most Mainland states where utilities typically eschew oil-fired generators, Hawai'i relies on petroleum for 78 percent of its electricity.

Nationally, coal accounts for almost 49 percent of electricity generation, with natural gas and nuclear each accounting for about 20 percent. Petroleum is at 1.6 percent.

Hawai'i's reliance on oil has hit the state especially hard as crude oil shot across the $100-a-barrel mark. The average statewide residential rate was 29.98 cents per kilowatt hour in February, according to the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration figures. That compared to the national average of 10.24 cents.

While that's made alternate energy projects more price competitive with electricity generated from oil, Hawaiian Electric Co. is further kickstarting alternate energy development on O'ahu by calling for proposals for 100 megawatts of renewable projects or more. That offers the prospect of a guaranteed contract to provide power to HECO, which would resell it to customers.

The contract is important because it will help get projects off the ground as developers use it to gain financing and commitments from turbine builders and other suppliers. About two dozen companies showed up for a bidders briefing on HECO's request for proposals.

Hawaian Electric said it expects a strong response to the request when a proposal submission deadline rolls around on Sept. 25.

"I'm more than just cautiously optimistic," said Warren Bollmeier, president of the Hawai'i Renewable Energy Alliance.

"Not every state in the nation has the kind of resources we have."

Hawai'i is in the worst position when it comes to crude oil. it also is one of the best positioned to take advantage of renewable technology because of its abundance of sunshine, brisk mountain winds, geothermal, bioenergy and ocean. Hawai'i and the U.S. Department of Energy are working to transform the state into a showplace for renewable energy and have set a goal of 70 percent of energy needs coming from renewables in 22 years.

ENERGY ENDEAVORS

Currently a number of alternate energy initiatives have taken root, with wind power on Maui and the Big Island, geothermal in Puna and other electricity being generated from biomass and hydroelectric. There are projects involving biofuel produced from algae, ocean thermal, ocean wave and others.

The Kahuku projects promise to be the most visible of the current O'ahu endeavors, if not only for their timing and sheer size of the turbines. First Wind Holdings Inc.'s Kahuku plans call for installing a dozen wind machines that sit atop a 180-foot high tower and have blades whose tips will be 420 feet in the air when at their zenith.

The company, based in Newton, Mass., and formerly known as UPC Wind, already has a track record in the state because of its Kaheawa Wind project on Maui, perhaps the state's best-known wind farm. The 20 turbines there generate up to 30 megawatts of power and provide 9 percent of Maui's power. First Wind says that displaces 600 barrels of oil imported here daily, or a partial dent in the 42 million barrels of crude imported into the state annually, according to a recent state study.

First Wind's Kahuku project would also be a 30-megawatt facility and be installed on 507 acres of agricultural land off Charlie Road, a small access road off the mauka side of Kamehameha Highway between the Turtle Bay Resort and Kahuku town. First Wind declined to discuss its projects here, saying it can't comment while filing for a sale of stock through an initial public offering.

The project received a conditional use permit in January, and the company is currently negotiating a purchase-power contract with HECO.

Just behind First Wind's property sits Avery's 232-acre site that he hopes to lease from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Avery said he's talked with the state about putting up 10 wind machines with three-point blades that have a generating capacity of 25 megawatts.

Avery said he's discussed possibly getting more land for his project, Na Pua Makani, and expanding his capacity by another 25 megawatts.

Financing for Avery's project would come from his partners, Midwest Wind Finance and Chevron Corp. First Wind is raising money through its IPO.

Both developers said the turbines would be visible from the highway, but that they have community support for the projects. The windswept sites are near where a Hawaiian Electric subsidiary tested wind power in the 1980s at a time when technology for large machines was still developing and before engineers figured out that composite construction, not steel, was the best material for blades. Many days the turbines sat idle because of mechanical issues, and HECO abandoned the project in the early 1990s because of technical problems.

Bollmeier, who serves as a consultant on renewable energy projects, said there will always be people who say they think the wind machines are unsightly, but that "the only complaints I ever heard about the wind turbines was that they weren't running."

"We have some very mature products now and they're still going to get better."

The projects are also taking shape after HECO was rebuffed in its effort to build a 39-megawatt wind farm on Palehua Ridge above its Kahe power plant in 2005.

HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg confirmed the company is in negotiations with First Wind on a contract and is hopeful about the efforts of Avery's West Wind Works LLC. HECO, which says there is about 1,700 megawatts of generating capacity on O'ahu, is trying to meet a goal of Hawai'i getting 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2020.

"Literally every little bit helps," said Rosegg. "We are in intensive negotiations with First Wind for a purchase power agreement for a Kahuku wind farm.

"We are very optimistic about this."