Powering Alaska: renewable alternatives.

• Author: Harrington, Susan
• Position: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY - Cover story

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Waste not, want not. When looking at the possibilities for alternative energy in Alaska, the most viable immediate solution is to conserve--in fact it's a State goal to increase energy efficiency 20 percent by 2020. Weatherization, heat recovery and energy efficiency are all on the conservation menu. The State remains committed to a statewide goal of generating 50 percent of electric needs from renewable and alternative energy sources by 2025--twice the current amount. This infrastructure development desire is expensive and coupled with transmission hurdles. Communities and organizations look to federal and State grants and tax credits for renewable energy dollars in efforts to beat the high cost of generating rural electricity and overcome the fear of natural gas shortages.

GENERATING ELECTRICITY

The Alaska Energy Authority, in the "Renewable Energy Atlas of Alaska," cites gas, oil and petroleum residuals as accounting for 73 percent of statewide electrical generation, with hydro at 24 percent and coal at 3 percent. Wind, solar and biomass generate just 0.2 percent of electricity in Alaska. Eighty percent of the electricity generated in Alaska (1,340 megawatts) is along the Railbelt from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula--70 percent of that is from natural gas generators, with Bradley Lake and Eklutna providing some hydro power. Half a dozen separate utilities each connect to the Railbelt Intertie to generate electricity up and down the grid. Some sort of consolidation of these utilities is seen as necessary in the long-term.

With its remote, isolated and far-flung communities, Rural Alaska lacks a unified power grid, using diesel generators in each community. Although wind and hybrid wind-diesel generation is increasing, AEA maintains diesel will continue to account for the majority of power generation for these roadless areas isolated by terrain and distance. Southeast relies on hydroelectric power for the majority of its electrical generation with diesel generator supplementation and backup. AEA has identified 227 non-Railbelt communities and outlined least-cost scenarios for power generation.

AEA's "Alaska Railbelt Regional Integrated Resource Plan (RIRP) Study," prepared by Black & Veatch Corp., analyzed the current electrical generation situation and identified 7.2 billion dollars worth of transmission infrastructure upgrades over 20 years to develop large hydroelectric, geothermal and wind projects for the...