First Wind, a Boston-based company that operates wind projects in the Northeast, the West, and Hawaii, said that commercial operations have begun at its Kawailoa wind facility on Oahu.

The 69 megawatt project will be able to generate enough wind energy to power the equivalent of 14,500 homes on the island. At full output, it has the potential to meet as much as 5 to 10 percent of Oahu’s annual electrical demand and avoid the burning of about 300,000 barrels of oil each year, the company said in a press release.