A company that wants to import biofuel through Hilo Harbor plans to resume refurbishing storage tanks at a former asphalt plant by February, its founder said.
Chuck Barker of Hoku Kai Biofuels said the company is going through restructuring, with a new board and group of investors joining. Site work should resume after that is finalized, he said.
The company plans to use an existing 10-inch pipe to transport fuel from the harbor to storage tanks on the mauka side of Kalanianaole Avenue. The pipe and tanks previously were used by Shell Oil.
Repairs to the storage tanks began about two years ago but work stalled because of financial problems.
In July, Hilo Circuit Court Judge Greg Nakamura ordered the company to pay $116,076.62 to a contractor for missed payments.
A foreclosure lawsuit also was filed against Hoku Kai in mid-2016 for defaulting on a $2.3 million mortgage.
Barker said those issues are being resolved.
“It’s like so many projects that are large capital endeavors. It has experienced its challenges in the capital structure,” he said. “But the project remains quite viable. We are just preparing to go forward with site completion.”
The tanks would store 1.2 million gallons of biofuel and should be complete in September. He said that work is about 40 percent finished.
After that, imports could begin a year from now, Barker said.
After restructuring of the board, he said he might be a project consultant but no longer would be its president.
Biofuel could be used for transportation or sold to Hawaii Electric Light Co. for energy use, Barker said. He said no agreements will be made until the company is ready to import.
Biofuel also is produced at the Pacific Biodiesel plant near Keaau.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
