Nui Iopa
Hawai‘i Island has always been home to Nui Iopa. He went to Hilo High School and Hawai‘i Community College, where he studied engineering and insulation technology.
Nui is an auxiliary plant operator at Honua Ola. “I’m the eyes, ears, and hands for the control room operator,” he said. Whatever the plant management system says needs to be done Nui handles it manually, adjusting valves, checking boiler water and verifying that the piping system is performing properly.
“Everybody wants Hawai‘i to be using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045,” Nui said. “The only way we’re going to do that is with plants like this.”
“The plant will provide up to 21.5 megawatts to HELCO and the community,” he said. “That’s enough electricity for 14,000 homes on the Hamakua Coast—and we don’t need to import fossil fuels to do it.
“This island is our home,” he said. “Let’s take care of it.”