HomeMy WebLinkAbout7 L NREL Support NomeA national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Energy Efficiency& Renewable Energy
' National Renewable Energy Laboratory
September 28, 2007
To whom it may concern;
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been involved in the application of
wind -diesel systems for remote communities for more than a decade, during which time
our hybrid systems team has been involved with several Alaska village electric systems
that have incorporated wind technologies and the various entities which design,
evaluate, implement and operate them. We have worked with the Alaska Energy
Authority to measure wind resources and map the wind resources for most of Alaska in
a cooperative attempt to help appropriately implement wind systems to augment diesel
in rural villages. We are particularly interested in working with hub communities, which
have the capacity to demonstrate effective wind -diesel systems, train operators and
service personnel, maintain a spare parts inventory, and provide operation and
maintenance support capability for the more remote communities.
This project proposed for Nome Alaska looks like an interesting step in this direction
and we would look forward to assisting with the systems analysis portion of the project,
as part of our technical assistance to the State of Alaska, one of our priority Wind
Powering America program states. We do feel that it is very important to ensure that all
parties, including the local utility, are well informed and actively participate in all phases
of the project. It is particularly important to assure a sustainable approach to the
operations and maintenance of the system through training and developing local
capacity. Because we have not had the opportunity to study the specifics of this
proposal in any detail, this is not an endorsement of its technical, economical, or
institutional soundness, rather an expression of interest in it conceptually and the
potential that wind technologies could play a role in reducing the communities
dependence on high cost, imported diesel fuel. We look forward to a successful
collaboration.
i
Regards, Larry Flowe�
Team Leader
National Wind Technology Center
1617 Cole Blvd. • Golden, CO 80401-3393 • (303) 275-3000
NREL is operated by Midwest Research Institute 4 Battelle