HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017 Preface Published ArticlePreface: Technology and cost reviews for renewable energy in Alaska: Sharing our
experience and know-how
Erin Whitney
Citation: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 9, 061501 (2017);
View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5017516
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/rse/9/6
Published by the American Institute of Physics
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Preface: Technology and cost reviews for renewable energy
in Alaska: Sharing our experience and know-how
Erin Whitney
Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP), University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks,
Alaska 99775, USA
(Received 27 November 2017; accepted 4 December 2017; published online 22 December 2017)
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5017516
Many of the more than 200 remote communities in Alaska are turning to renewable energy
to reduce reliance on high-cost imported fuels, and to ensure more independent and reliable
energy availability based on local sources. Alaska is home to a substantial fraction of the devel-
oped microgrids in the world. Incorporating grid-scale levels of renewably sourced generation,
such as wind and solar power, has led to an unusual concentration of experience and expertise
in the design, development, and operation of these hybrid renewables-diesel microgrids.
This expertise is relevant to other markets, such as enabling operational improvements in
cost and reliability for mobile and stationary military installations. In addition, strategies pio-
neered in Alaska could be relevant to larger regional or continental grids reorganized around
microgrids served by local generation, including a general trend toward higher penetration
levels of renewable generation. By sharing lessons learned through projects developed in some
of the most remote and challenging environments of the world, Alaskans are also playing a key
role in addressing energy poverty globally through the development of local solutions that are
resilient, reliable, and sustainable.
This collection of papers is the first compilation of technology and cost reviews on the
state of wind power,energy storage,diesel engine,biomass,solar photovoltaic,heat pump,
and organic Rankine cycle technologies in Alaska. Also included are the cross-cutting topics
of electrical transmission and integration. These reviews dissect the cost structure for capital
energy projects and their operations in detail, by investigating their effects on the levelized cost
of energy as functions of system size, remoteness, and technology maturity.
The driving factor for renewable energy implementation in remote grids in Alaska is the
reduction of the cost of energy. Nonetheless, climate change effects are strongly felt in the
Arctic and are changing the physical and geopolitical landscape through changing accessibility
to the region. This raises the expectation of greater economic activity, and consequently,
increased demand for energy in the region, e.g., operation of a deep port at the Arctic Circle is
being discussed. The collection of papers presented here provides a critical piece of information
regarding the technical and economic viability of increasing activity by commercial and govern-
mental players in the region. In addition, understanding the potential to tap local energy resour-
ces to support both communities and industry is important to enable sustainable development
across the region.
These technology reviews were researched and prepared by the Alaska Center for Energy
and Power (ACEP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). ACEP is an applied and inter-
disciplinary research institute with a mission is to develop, research, and disseminate practical,
cost-effective, and innovative energy solutions for Alaska and beyond. ACEP developed the
reviews to support the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) in its development of an Alaska
Affordable Energy Strategy. The intention was to determine what targeted energy technology
development solutions could be implemented in Alaska to make energy more affordable in the
Alaska Affordable Energy Study area. While the focus was primarily on technical attributes of
each technology, other factors such as logistics, labor, and training were also addressed. These
reports are not intended to serve as an exhaustive discussion of the energy technologies in
Alaska, nor are they meant as design guides for implementation of any technology. The authors
wish to thank the Alaska Energy Authority for its funding to support this project.
1941-7012/2017/9(6)/061501/1/$30.00 Published by AIP Publishing.9, 061501-1
JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 9, 061501 (2017)