Augmented reality, wireless networks, blue hydrogen: on the North Slope, urgent necessity is the mother of all kinds of invention. As much as Alaska is a resource extraction economy, that activity also inspires, deploys, and hones technological innovations.
Beyond 5G wireless in Prudhoe Bay, GCI envisions a telecommunications backbone to new renewable energy industries in Alaska.
GCI’s next 5G wireless network will be for the state’s richest industrial zone. Prudhoe Bay is scheduled to get 5G service in 2022.
Rural Alaska communities are taking a long look at local resources to see if biomass systems can save money, create jobs, and even work in concert with local fire mitigation efforts.
![60Hertz Raises Seed Funding from Impact Investor Factor[e] Ventures](https://www.akbizmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/6ed2394eab49e1212f6ec528b7059b47-940x675.jpg)
Factor[e] Ventures closed a deal with 60Hertz, the first maintenance management software designed specifically for people managing remote energy assets such as microgrids.
Alaska has some of the best renewable energy resources in the world. Yet the current lack of a domestic energy policy, transmission costs, and the isolation of more than 200 communities create a challenging environment in which to develop those resources and bring them to market.
Saft has installed an energy storage system in the city of Cordova to enable the community to make the most of hydropower generation and meet a seasonal step change in demand as the local salmon processing industry starts up in early summer.