HomeMy WebLinkAboutTyonek Native Corporation - Ormat Letter of Support -AEA 2010Tyonek Native Corporation
1689 C Street, #219
Anchorage, AK 99501-5131
Tel: (907) 272-0707
Fax: (907) 274-7125
9 September 2010
To: Alaska Energy Authority
Renewable Energy Fund, Round III
Re: ORMAT Application for Mt. Spurr Geothermal Exploration Grant
This letter is to support the ORMAT application for the Alaska Renewable Energy Grant Fund,
round IV for development of a 50 MW geothermal plant on Mt. Spurr. We believe this project is
an excellent increment of true renewable energy, and vital to the Railbelt electric grid.
Tyonek Native Corporation (TNC) supports this project for the following reasons:
1) Alaska must build up to 1,000 MWs of new generation in the next twenty years in the
Railbelt to replace aging power stations
2) The State of Alaska, as well as local governments and Railbelt utilities, have indicated
that they will strive to get 50% of their power from renewable resources. It is likely that
the federal government will require Renewable Portfolio standards in the near future.
3) The Village of Tyonek and future development of TNC's surrounding lands is dependent
on a reliable, economic source of electric power from the Railbelt grid.
This project meets all those needs, as well as being a large economic development that creates
both local job opportunities and opportunities for local services in the development and
construction phase as well as the long-term life of the project in the operation and maintenance
phase. ORMAT has a Cooperative Agreement with TNC that covers these opportunities, and so
far ORMAT has exceeded our expectations in fulfilling its obligations under our Agreement.
We appreciate AEA's decision to award Ormat some $2 million in the previous round. We
understand ORMAT is encouraged by initial results of that work, and we therefore urge that the
AEA grant ORMAT the additional funds requested in this round in order to move this project
forward by continuing to share some of the high exploration costs inherent in this project.
Very truly yours,
John D. McClellan, P.E.
Tyonek Enterprise Development, Inc.