Renewable Energy

Alaska is rich in renewable energy resources. Nearly a quarter of Alaska's energy is currently supplied by hydropower, and small scale wind farms have been built in numerous villages. There is growing interest in developing the state's potential renewable resources, including wind, hydro, geothermal, tidal, wave, biomass/biofuels, and solar energy. With a relatively small population (hence lower energy needs), and a wide array of potential energy sources, Alaska is well-positioned to transition to renewable energy sources.

Currently, most of Alaska's electricity comes from natural gas, followed by hydropower, with smaller components from coal, oil, and other renewable sources. Of these, coal is the most polluting.

Pillar Mountain Wind Farm on Kodiak Island

Each of these turbines produces up to 1.5 MW of electricty

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Wind 

There are abundant wind resources in Alaska, particularly along the coastal regions of the state and in major passes. Wind power is a very promising resource both for small village power generation, as well as for large-scale projects like the proposed 17.8 MW Fire Island project near Anchorage, or the 24 MW Eva Creek project near Healy. As of mid-2009, there were around a dozen existing wind farms in Alaska and a similar number in the permitting process or under construction. Existing projects include Kotzebue, Wales, Kasigluk, and several villages in western Alaska managed by the Alaska Village Electrical Cooperative1.9 MB. As of mid-2009 the largest wind farm in the state was the Banner Wind Project in Nome which came online in December 2008, but as of July 2009 was non-operational due to a lack of replacement parts. The largest project currently under construction is the 4.3 MW Pillar Mountain facility near Kodiak.  Homer Electric is also pursuing a 14.5 MW facility in Nikiski.

Most of the smaller wind projects in Alaska are wind-diesel hybrid systems where wind is used to displace the amount of diesel required by remote communities in the state. The US Department of Energy also publishes a guide for Alaskans entitled "Small Wind Electric Systems" which is aimed at homeowners and small businesses interested in installing a wind system.

Hydro

Alaska is rich in hydroelectric power potential, and hydro already provides almost one quarter of the electrical energy in the state, mostly in Southeast Alaska. In 2009 there were around 30 public hydroelectric projects providing power throughout the state, as well as a large number of private installations. Some of the most prominent existing hydroelectric projects in the state are the Bradley Lake project, the "Four-Dam-Pool" project, and the Eklutna project near Anchorage. As of early 2009, there were several hydroelectric projects under construction or late permitting stages in Alaska including the river diversion Falls Creek project near Gustavus, and the Lake Dorothy project near Juneau. There has been a significant increase in interest in developing new hydroelectric power facilities in the state, with the Alaska Energy Authority receiving 64 grant applications for hydroelectric projects in 2008. Two particularly large proposals are the Chackachamna project on Cook Inlet and the Susitna project. Both of these would connect to the railbelt power grid in the Anchorage area.

Eklutna Project

Power numbers

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Hydroelectric power can be generated using a number of different systems

• Water drained from manmade dammed lakes
• "Lake-tap" systems where water is drained from the bottom of a natural lake
• River diversion systems where a portion of a river is diverted through a pipe to a powerhouse at a lower elevation
• "Run-of-the-river" or "damless hydro" systems with underwater turbines spun by naturally flowing river water

Most of the new proposals in Alaska are run-of-the-river systems which avoid many of the environmental considerations of dam-building including ecosystem damage, sediment buildup, and interference with fish migrations. However, these systems do not store energy for use during low water or peak electricity demand. An example of an already established run-of-the-river system in Alaska is the Tazimina project near Lake Iliamna, which provides power to several small villages in the area.

Geothermal

Alaska possesses a large number of potential geothermal energy sites, principally located in the Interior, in the southeast portion of the state, in the area around the Wrangell mountains and throughout the Alaskan peninsula. While electricity generation is an attractive option with geothermal resources, the use of these resources for direct heat may be even more important in Alaska. Chena Hot Springs Resort is the most successful example of the use of geothermal energy within the state where the energy is used to generate electricity (displacing 150,000 gallons of diesel per year), to heat buildings, outdoor ponds, swimming pools and even to provide heat and carbon dioxide to greenhouses. A number of other geothermal projects have been proposed in the state, most prominently a large facility on Mt. Spurr (near the Chakachamna hydroelectric proposal) to provide power to the Railbelt grid.

Nakwakto Tidal Rapid

Deep water pours throught this tidal rapid draining Seymour Inlet.

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Tidal

Cook Inlet in Alaska is home to most of the state's population, and has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world, making it an ideal location for harnessing tidal power. Alaska possesses 90% of the tidal power potential in the US. In 2006 a large feasibility study1.7 MB by the Electric Power Research Institute was completed concluding that a tidal facility with enough capacity to power 17,000 homes was possible in Knik Arm at Cairn Point. Since this report was published the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued at least eight preliminary tidal energy project permits in Alaska. The most advanced of these permits is held by Ocean Renewable Power Company to deploy a pilot project at Knik Arm in 2010.

Wave

Alaska receives massive inputs of wave energy, Southern Alaska alone is estimated to receive 300 times the total energy needs of the state annually. However, the technology to develop wave energy potential on a large scale is still in early stages. A second problem in Alaska is that the largest waves are on the outer coasts, while the major population centers are in inlets and bays, so additional transmission infrastructure would be required to develop wave energy on a large scale. While no large-scale studies have been undertaken in Alaska to assess the potential of this resource, the community of Yakutat has commissioned the Electric Power Research Institute to conduct a survey of wave potential in the area and is reportedly working with SyncWave Systems Inc. to deploy a pilot project in the near future.

Biomass/Biofuels

Biomass refers to both "primary biomass" such as wood as well as "waste biomass" which in Alaska includes sawmill wastes, fish byproducts, and municipal waste.

While wood is no longer used by most large electricity and heating utilities, it is still a very important source of residential heating in many locations. In addition, wood pellets are becoming increasingly popular, both in Alaska and worldwide. The first large-scale wood pellet plant in Alaska is currently under construction near Fairbanks. In addition, the city of Craig has recently installed a sawmill-waste fired boiler which will heat a variety of city buildings.

Fish oil and other fish byproducts are used in some processing facilities as generator fuel, but have limited applicability to other locations. Similarly, municipal wastes are used for energy generation in some locations (e.g. Eielson Air Force Base) but this cannot provide an adequate amount of energy on its own.

Biodiesel or bio-ethanol is unlikely to be produced in large quantities in Alaska. This would require growing popular biofuel crops such as corn or soybeans, neither of which is currently produced in the state. However, there are small programs in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau to reuse waste cooking oil as biodiesel.

Solar

Solar power is unlikely to make up a large percentage of commercial energy generation in Alaska due to a combination of high capital costs and low amounts of sunshine in the winter (when energy demand is highest). However, the use of "passive solar" building techniques and of solar panels to reduce energy demand in the summer is likely to be important in many locations in the state. Solar power in Alaska is most important in small, off-grid communities or houses where it can be used to displace transported diesel fuel. The largest utility-connected solar power system in the state is a photovoltaicdiesel-battery system in Lime Village.

Date Created: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:08:04 -0800

Last Modified: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 19:15:41 -0900