Newtok Village Council – 2018 Project

Newtok Village will install a heat recovery system that will transport heat from the generator cooling loops in the Village’s power plant to the community buildings. The project will also implement energy efficiency measures (EEMs) in the construction camp washeteria and bunkhouses to reduce overall heat demand and improve heat recovery system performance. Currently, these facilities are expected to use 7,720 gallons of heating fuel and 65,495 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. After implementation of the heat recovery system, the facilities will see an estimated 100% reduction in fuel use and a total annual cost savings of approximately $109,710.

The Village of Mertarvik is the new town site of the community of Newtok. The Village of Newtok is an Alaska Native community in rural Alaska. There is a large planning effort to move the people of Newtok to the new town site, and infrastructure construction and development is in progress. Several projects related to the community’s relocation to Mertarvik have been successfully completed within the last 5 years.

The energy costs associated with the remote location of the community are a significant burden that threatens the sustainability of Village operations in the future. The electrical efficiency of a typical rural Alaska prime power diesel generator varies between 30% and 35%. This means about two‐thirds of the energy content of the fuel consumed to generate electricity is unused. Using recovered heat to heat nearby facilities is a simple, effective method to nearly double the useful energy content of each gallon of fuel. Newtok’s goal is to use all cost- and fuel-saving methods to make the community more sustainable. During subsequent phases of this project, as electric loads grow and additional recovered heat is available, the recovered heat system will be expanded to serve additional facilities.

A heat recovery system installed in the new town site of Mertarvik will transport heat from the generator cooling loops in the power plant to community buildings to provide heat to the facilities. The project will also implement EEMs in the construction camp washeteria and bunkhouses to reduce the overall heat demand and improve heat recovery system performance. The project will serve the long-term construction camp bunkhouses, construction camp washeteria, modular washeteria, and the Mertarvik Evacuation Center.

Currently, the facilities are expected to use 7,720 gallons of heating fuel and 65,495 kWh per year at a total cost of $109,710 for heating applications. After implementation of the heat recovery system, the facilities will see an estimated reduction in fuel use of 7,720 gallons and 65,495 kWh, and a reduction in heating costs of $109,710. This is a total fuel reduction of 100% and a total cost savings of 100%.

This project will work with the Newtok Village Council and the Newtok Village to reduce energy costs, reduce fuel use, and increase the sustainability of public infrastructure through implementation of a heat recovery system. The community of Newtok is in the process of relocating and transitioning to the Village of Mertarvik. Infrastructure for the whole community is being designed with a focus on developing a sustainable Village plan for the future of the residents in the community. The Village of Mertarvik has had a feasibility study completed by engineering professionals who will work with project management staff, design professionals, and construction staff to complete the installation and implementation of the heat recovery project. 

Important elements of the project include upgrades to the power plant and the existing construction camp to effectively deliver heat recovery benefits. This effort will take a holistic approach to energy savings by working with multiple community buildings to provide cost savings to all residents of the community. Energy costs in rural Alaska are extremely high, and the costs and fuel availability for Mertarvik will be volatile and unpredictable until the entire community has been relocated. Use of the heat recovery system will stabilize energy costs for public infrastructure and avoid the instability associated with additional fuel requirements. In total, the heat recovery system will offset heating costs for the long-term construction camp bunkhouses, the construction camp washeteria, and the Mertarvik Evacuation Center.

The new heat recovery system will expand on the power plant benefits and provide an opportunity to improve the efficiency of all fuel use at the power plant. The use of renewable energy sources and energy efficient technology is critical to ensuring the sustainability of the Village plan.

The Mertarvik Heat Recovery Project will serve community facilities in the new Village of Mertarvik, an Alaska Native community in rural Alaska. Mertarvik, being the new town site of the community of Newtok, does not yet have a permanent population. It is located in southwest Alaska on the southern coast of the Baird Inlet. The estimated population, based on the current population of the community of Newtok, is approximately 354 people.

The project is closed. The grant was declined.

The project was competitively selected under the Office of Indian Energy Fiscal Year 2018 funding opportunity announcement “Energy Infrastructure Deployment on Tribal Lands - 2018” (DE-FOA-0001847) and started in March 2019.