NOTE: Project pages are being updated regularly to reflect changes, if any; however, some of the information may be dated.
Summary
Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AVEC), in partnership with the Native Village of Shaktoolik, will build a community-scale energy storage grid bridging system (GBS) for their existing diesel power plant and wind turbines in Shaktoolik, Alaska. The GBS will consist of a new 320-kilowatt (kW)/361-kilowatt-hours (kWh) lithium-ion battery and grid-forming inverter to be integrated with the existing wind-diesel hybrid microgrid. This project will improve power quality and reduce diesel generator use by an estimated 2,200 hours annually, resulting in an estimated annual savings of $105,600.
Project Overview
| Tribe/Awardee: | Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Location: | Anchorage, AK |
| Project Title: | Shaktoolik Battery System Construction Project |
| Type of Application: | Deployment |
| DOE Grant Number: | DE-IE0000173 |
| Project Amounts: | DOE: $759,656 Awardee: $84,407 Total: $844,063 |
| Project Status: | See project status |
| Project Period of Performance: | Start: 10/1/2023 End: 12/31/2025 |
Project Description
Background
AVEC is a nonprofit electric utility providing electrical services to the residents of 59 remote rural Alaska villages and will serve as the technical lead on this project. The members of AVEC are over 95% Alaska Native from diverse cultures, including Athabascan, Aleut, Inupiat, Yupik, Siberian Yupik, and Tlingit. AVEC is owned by the members it serves and has one of the largest geographic service areas of any retail electric cooperative in the United States. AVEC generators produce electric power for member communities, running a cumulative total of more than 400,000 hours per year.
The Native Village of Shaktoolik is a remote Alaska Native community located on the east shore of Norton Sound, 125 miles east of Nome and 33 miles north of Unalakleet. The community population is approximately 215 people, and roughly 97% of the residents are Alaska Native. The current cost of electricity in Shaktoolik is extremely high compared to other Alaskan villages, at over $0.53 per kWh, primarily due to reliance on diesel-produced electricity. Currently, Shaktoolik is primarily powered by diesel generators, with roughly 28% of the community’s power generated by two 100-kW wind turbines. However, without an energy storage system, the use of the wind turbines is significantly limited. Additionally, random wind fluctuations and voltage deviations from the wind turbines often result in grid instability and require a larger diesel generator to be used when there is more wind production opportunity, thus reducing the value of the wind energy. To prevent outages during wind fluctuations, AVEC must have a loaded diesel generator running non-stop to provide spinning reserve, which is expensive and inefficient. Therefore, this project will increase efficiency and reduce energy costs by maximizing wind power generation, reducing generator runtime, and providing lower-cost, reliable energy for the Native Village of Shaktoolik.
Project Objectives
The goals of this project are to enhance energy security, reduce energy costs and operations and maintenance costs, extend the life of the diesel generators, provide economic development opportunities, and demonstrate replicability for other communities. To achieve these goals, project objectives include increasing power output of the existing wind turbines by approximately 83%, decreasing the use of diesel generators, and improving power quality by integrating a new 320-kW/361-kWh battery energy storage system with the existing wind-diesel hybrid islanded microgrid. Additionally, with the integration of a battery energy storage system, the existing wind-to-heat system consisting of electric boilers will be reactivated due to the increased performance of the wind turbines, thus further reducing diesel generator use.
Project Scope
The scope of this project consists of the installation of a 320-kW/361-kWh lithium-ion battery and grid-forming inverter that will bridge the gap between the existing diesel generators, wind turbines, and wind-to-heat system. Upgraded Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition will provide full system integration, power distribution automation, and remote systems monitoring and management.
AVEC will initiate the project by finalizing the engineering and design for the GBS. Following this step, AVEC will purchase and ship all materials to Shaktoolik. AVEC will prepare the pad and install a triodetic foundation and GBS. AVEC will commission the system and begin the mandatory 12-month verification period. Lastly, final deliverables will be submitted to DOE for approval and project closeout.
Project Location
The Native Village of Shaktoolik is located on the east shore of Norton Sound, 125 miles east of Nome and 33 miles north of Unalakleet. The community population is approximately 215 people and roughly 97% of the residents are Alaska Native.
Project Status
The project was competitively selected under the Office of Indian Energy’s Fiscal Year 2022 funding opportunity announcement “Clean Energy Technology Deployment on Tribal Lands - 2022” (DE-FOA-0002774) and started in October 2023.