Creeping Lava Now Threatens Major Hawaiian Power Plant (gizmodo.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Molten lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has entered the grounds of Puna Geothermal Venture, a geothermal power plant that provides about 25 percent of the Big Island's power. The 38 Megawatt Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) power plant, which is located in the east rift zone of the Kilauea volcano, was shut down soon after the eruptions began on May 3. Yesterday, lava from Fissure 22 came to within 820 feet (250 meters) of the plant's nearest well pad before stalling, as Reuters reports. Overnight, workers managed to cap the 11th and final well at the facility in anticipation of the lava eventually reaching the facility, and to prevent the uncontrollable release of toxic gases. Mercifully, the lava flow stopped at a ridge near the PGV plant, but as the events of the past two weeks have shown, Mount Kilauea is in an extremely volatile state. The HCCD said Fissure 22 is producing most of the lava feeding the flows, so the situation near the power plant remains precarious.

Comments

To be expected

[Mal-2]

Geothermal power always has the liability that it sits on geologically active ground. Sure the lava will go some other direction most of the time, but the law of averages says it's always going to be a risk.

Re:To be expected

[ShanghaiBill]

But that has always worked for Iceland.

You can't directly compare Hawaii and Iceland. Iceland's volcanoes are more "felsic", which means they contain more silicates and are more viscous. So they flow more slowly and this makes them easier to divert by ditching, and cooling with hoses to create walls of solidified lava.

Kilauea in Hawaii is a classic "mafic" volcano. The lava is low in silicates, and less viscous. It flows like water, very rapidly. It also is harder to solidify. Kilauea's lava solidifies into basalt at about 985 C. Iceland's lava will solidify at about 1200 C, and will start to get gooey at even higher temps.

Re:To be expected

[ShanghaiBill]

You joke, but I'm wondering why they couldn't have built it on higher ground.

A big reason is that the upper slopes of Kilauea are inside a national park. Only the lower areas around Pahoa are private land available for commercial development.

Volcanoes National Park

Re:Bulldozer?

[painandgreed]

Um, Why hasn't a concerted effort been made to build a berm uphill from the power plant to divert the lava?

Soon after the eruption started, there was an article that discussed this and the answer is probably that it wouldn't do any good. Lava is more like a wall of rock coming at you than a wave of water. It will push through or over most anything in its way. The amount of work needed to build a berm that would have a suitable enough chance to divert the lava flow is probably not possible in the time given or worth the effort needed.

Much useful information at Civil Beat

[sphealey]

Much useful information in this article at Hawaii Civil Beat: http://www.civilbeat.org/2018/...

Short quote (there's a lot more at the link):

Over the past two weeks, 10 wells have been quenched, and capped with a heavy steel plate. The work required removing the massive wellhead valves tested to resist 3,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, something that will now be accomplished by a column of water more than a mile high to resist lava entry into the well underground.

That’s the working theory anyway, and company and government emergency management officials consulted experts worldwide from New Zealand to California to Iceland on the best response to imminent lava inundation.

The trouble is, “to our knowledge, no one’s faced this before,” Travis said.

The last wellhead – Well 14 – stymied all efforts Monday to quench and cap the well. More than a mile of cold water was not enough. Ditto more than a mile of denser salt water.

“Something has happened down there in the last two weeks that won’t let it (quench),” Travis said.

Drilling mud, a highly complex and heavyweight chemical compound used extensively in oilfield drilling, is the next line of attack. Travis was confident the mud would work because it hardens and thickens under heat and pressure, he said.

Re:Emergency Power Ship

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Solar at Hawaii's location [nrel.gov] (96704 zip code) has a capacity factor of about 0.124 (this takes into account night, seasons, movement of the sun, weather, maintenance, etc).

Of course, when you intentionally pick one of the worst places on the island, naturally you get such a mediocre result.