Renewable Energy Projects Gaining Momentum
Apr 18 - Alaska Journal of Commerce
Alaska's wind, thermal features and other renewable sources of energy have the potential to be cost-effective sources of power in the state and, perhaps one day, the foundation of a new export industry, said speakers at a forum on renewable energy in Alaska.
"Businesses are positioning themselves to be leaders in renewable
energy," Rose told attendees of the April 5 Commonwealth North forum in
Anchorage.
Rose was joined by Joe Griffith, chief executive officer of Chugach Electric
Association, and Nick Goodman, chief executive officer of TDX Power.
Rose said the technology used to generate energy from wind-powered turbines
has significantly improved since the early 1980s, lowering its production costs
to be comparable to conventional power that is for the most part generated from
fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil.
"The technology is improving. As fossil fuel prices go up and as wind
power goes down, they are meeting," he said. "Wind is probably the
most mature technology and it is very cost-competitive."
Technology using other renewable energy sources -- such as the sun and the
ocean's waves and tides -- are experiencing maturation processes similar to wind
technology, making it likely they will also be affordable sources of energy in
the future, Rose said.
The high price of importing diesel fuel to the Bush has already prompted some
rural utilities to develop alternatives to diesel-generated power.
"As we know oil prices are high, and it is really hitting rural Alaska
hard," Rose said.
Kotzebue Electric Association's wind farm generated about 6 percent of the
energy it supplied customers last year, reducing the utility's diesel use by
about 100,000 gallons, Rose said. "They really measure their success by the
amount of diesel they do not have to import."
Wind-generated energy is also a viable option for the Railbelt, Chugach
Electric's Griffith said.
Through extensive studies, Chugach Electric has determined that installing
400-foot wind turbines on Fire Island, about three miles offshore from Anchorage
in Cook Inlet, is feasible. The 33 wind turbines would be able to generate up to
an estimated 99 megawatt-hours, more than 12 percent of the about 800 MW used by
the Railbelt during peak consumption.
However, the initial costs to develop the electric infrastructure to transmit
power from the wind turbines to Chugach Electric's grid are high, Griffith said.
The total cost of the project's transmission infrastructure -- including
power lines, substations and a submarine cable, among other components -- is
estimated to be about $30 million.
"It is a substantial undertaking and if there is a limiting factor for
the project it is transmission," he said. "We are working on it and
have asked for state and federal help."
The Alaska Legislature is currently considering an appropriations bill to
grant Chugach Electric $20 million for the construction of the project's wind
farm and transmission infrastructure.
Four Railbelt utilities -- Chugach Electric, Municipal Light and Power,
Golden Valley Electric and Homer Electric Association -- have signed a
memorandum of understanding to pursue funding for the project's development and
to use the power generated from the wind farm.
The power generated from the Fire Island wind project is currently not
competitive with Chugach Electric's least expensive power generated by the
natural-gas-fired Beluga plant. But the prices of power generated from wind and
natural gas could be comparable in the future if public funding for developing
the wind project's infrastructure is secured and the price of
natural-gas-generated power rises as Cook Inlet's gas supply declines, Griffith
said.
The U.S. Department of Energy's study of gas in Southcentral Alaska found
there could be a gas shortage in the area as early as 2009 and developing a new
gas supply to meet the demand would be more expensive than what customers are
paying now.
Griffith said that if funding is secured for the wind project's initial
costs, wind-generated power could be online in three years.
In addition to generating power to meet the Railbelt's needs, the wind
project would increase the likelihood other renewable energy projects would be
developed around the state by changing people's perceptions of renewable energy,
Rose said in an interview.
"If Fire Island is built, it is going to raise the awareness of
renewables in the state," he told attendees of the forum.
Underground hot water and steam is another under-utilized renewable source of
energy, TDX Power's Nick Goodman said.
TDX Power is interested in applying the Icelandic model to Alaska to develop
geothermal power plants -- with turbines spun by the Earth's hot water or steam
to generate power -- and heating systems that use hot water or steam to heat
buildings, roads and pools. Geothermal power plants and heating systems produce
all of Iceland's electricity and heat, which on average costs residential
customers 6 cents a kilowatt-hour for electricity and 1.5 cents a kwh for heat,
he said.
"Economic reasons: The reasons for geothermal (in Alaska) are just
that," he said. "We have a tremendous resource and just need to match
it up with a market."
TDX Power has had some preliminary conversations with Chugach Electric to
develop geothermal resources in the Railbelt, and is interested in exploring
areas such as Mount Spur, which had been explored in the 1970s and 1980s,
Goodman said in an interview.
"Geothermal is not for the faint of heart," he told attendees of
the forum.
"We are accessing hot water and steam near or on top of volcanoes."
To emphasis his point, Goodman showed forum attendees a picture from Iceland
of a geothermal power plant near the edge of an erupting volcano.
In addition to providing power for Alaskans, the state's renewable sources of
energy may be able to be used to produce hydrogen fuel for export.
"If we were to put together a grass-roots hydrogen project, we would
have an exportable product right there," Griffith told forum attendees.
Businesses exporting hydrogen fuel from Alaska may be a ways off, Goodman
cautioned in an interview. "The technology is promising but we are still in
a very early stages of a hydrogen economy."
Web resources: Chugach Electric Association -- www.chugachelectric.com
; and TDX Power -- www.tdxpower.com .
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