(BIVN) – A public hearing will be held in Pāhoa in early December concerning Puna Geothermal Venture’s plan to expand its power plant operations.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health is considering a draft permit amendment that would allow PGV to increase power production from 41 megawatts (MW) to 46 MW at its Puna power plant.

The hearing will be held at the Pāhoa Neighborhood Facility Community Center at 15-3022 Kauhale Street on Monday, December 8, at 6 p.m.

The expansion plan will replace the 12 existing Ormat Energy Converters (OECs) with 3 new and more efficient units. The new units would be built at a new location on the PGV site, documents say. “Most of the existing buildings and infrastructure would remain for the project, including administration buildings, the control room, maintenance areas, well pads, and the gathering system,” the permit application states.

The OECs in the new plant will utilize cyclopentane as motive fluid, the application says. A 39,500-gallon storage tank will be needed for maintenance and storage of the fluid.

The changes will result in a net decrease of 6.36 tons per year of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions, the health department notice says.

PGV is also requesting to increase the number of authorized geothermal wells from 14 to 28. “There will be no change in the potential air emissions as a result of this increase in wells,” the application states. “This request is being made to reflect the twenty-eight (28) wells authorized per the Plan of Operations approved by the Department of Land and Natural Resources – Land Board in 2006.”

The Admin Record for Noncovered Source Permit No. 0008-02-N can be found online through the health department website.