5 Alaska Communities Chosen by DOE to Target Energy Resilience Goals
Five Alaskan communities, out of eleven remote communities across the country, have been chosen for a US Department of Energy project to improve energy infrastructure and resilience.
The five communities include Aleknagik, Ouzinkie, Wainwright, Dillingham, and the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association in Sitka.
The US Department of Energy’s National Laboratories chose the communities as part of the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP), in which the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) is a partner.
The five communities will work with REAP and the University of Alaska to find technical solutions to entrenched, community-specific problems. These challenges range from efficient integration of renewable energy into microgrids to designing microgrid control systems. Specifically, the project will work to facilitate the delivery of technical assistance that addresses:
- Retrofit of a Net Zero Energy child care facility nearly 280 miles north of the Arctic Circle
- Design of a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system for fishing vessels
- Grid design for communities with renewable energy generation
- Modeling of a hydroelectric system with an aging distribution grid
- Economic Impact Analysis for a hydroelectric plant with beneficial electrification
Alaska communities suffer from a range of high energy costs, energy disruptions, natural disasters, and climate change impacts. Technical assistance is an important component to create energy resilience in rural communities. Additionally, each community faces its own energy challenges, which is why ETIPP focuses on community-driven goals to guide each project.
Resources will be available to these communities through Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The project will last approximately 12 to 18 months, starting this year.
This is an exciting opportunity to bring Alaska’s rural communities closer to their unique energy resilience goals.
More information can be found at: facebook.com/AlaskaRuralEnergyPartnership and alaskarenewableenergy.org/initiatives/etipp/.
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The track of oil and gas development in Alaska shows the footprints of bold companies and hard-working individuals who shaped the industry in the past and continue to innovate today. The May 2024 issue of Alaska Business explores that history while looking forward to new product development, the energy transition for the fishing fleet, and the ethics of AI tools in business.