Volcanic Value: Building the Makushin Geothermal Project.

• Author: Erickson, Nancy

"One does not resist the invasion of ideas," said Victor Hugo, and one idea whose time has come has been bubbling underneath the Aleutian Island arc. Fifty million years in the making, visionaries now are taking active steps toward energizing Unalaska's electrical grid with geothermal energy tapped from nearby Makushin Volcano.

An exploratory test well in 1983 determined the Makushin resource can supply enough geofluid to generate 500MW for 500 years. The geothermal resource at the base of the active volcano 14 miles from the Aleutian fishing community of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor is well documented, according to Dave Matthews, program manager with the joint venture Ounalashka Corporation/Chena Power (OCCP).

"Tens of millions of dollars have been spent in the past forty years investigating this resource, with Alaska Division of Geological b Geophysical Surveys, Republic Geothermal, Alaska Energy Authority, and the University of Alaska investing time and research into the value of the resource." says Matthews. "Multiple PhDs have been earned based on resource investigations. The Makushin Geothermal Resource is hence a verified resource that is wellknown in the geothermal world."

After several failed attempts by others at developing the utility resource, the joint venture between Unalaska's Native village corporation, Ounalashka Corporation, and Chena Power, a privately-held Fairbanks-based entity that installed the first geothermal power plant in Alaska, is scaling the hurdles of also being the first in the state to transform the volcano's thermal energy into green energy for residents of Unalaska.

The Hurdles

Ownership of the land and subsurface rights around the volcano has been a roadblock for previous developers. That is no longer the case.

"There are no land ownership/access issues," says Matthews. "The entire project corridor and facilities are on our 51 percent partner's land, made possible by a key 7,037-acre purchase by Ounalashka Corporation in 2019."

High capital costs were also an issue that the joint venture has overcome. "OCCP has contributed significantly via in-kind contributions in order to keep the development costs low," Matthew says.

Another boost was the City of Unalaska committing in 2020 to a thirty-year annual payment starting at $16.3 million, increasing 1 percent per year, according to Steve Tompkins, director Public Utilities for Unalaska.

First to Zero

"We're going to change the world. Unalaska and Dutch Harbor will be the poster child for the world," says Bernie Karl...