About HOST Park & NELHA

The mission of the Natural Energy of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) is to develop and diversify the Hawaii economy by providing resources and facilities for energy and ocean-related research, education, and commercial activities in an environmentally sound and culturally sensitive manner.

The State of Hawaii has invested over $100 million since 1974 to create HOST Park, a unique outdoor demonstration site for emerging renewable and ocean-based technologies. Three sets of pipelines deliver deep sea water from up to 3000 ft depth as well as pristine sea surface water.

Solar insolation is among the highest for coastal areas in the United States. The innovative green economic development park is administered by NELHA, a State of Hawaii agency administratively attached to DBEDT.

After three decades, NELHA is well on track to fulfilling its mission as an engine for economic development.

NELHA holds a unique place in the Pacific for energy and distributed energy applied research, demonstration, test and evaluation, and deployment of clean energy technologies. NELHA possesses an extraordinary combination of physical infrastructure and access to natural energy resources.

This strategic location makes NELHA the ideal clean energy R&D through deployment test bed on Hawaii Island. (Pacific International Center for High Technology Research, March 2013, NELHA Distributed Energy Strategy Update.)