Pribilof Islands Aleut Community of St. Paul Island – 2018 Project

NOTE: Project pages are being updated regularly to reflect changes, if any; however, some of the information may be dated.

Summary

This project will replace refrigeration equipment and display cases with energy efficient systems, use waste heat to provide heat, and lower the cost of energy and maintenance for the Aleut Community Store on St. Paul lsland, Alaska. As a result of this project, the community expects a reduction in building energy and maintenance costs of more than $44,000 annually. Once these and additional building energy efficiency measures (EEMs) are complete, the annual savings will be directed to reducing the cost of groceries, thereby lowering the cost of living for community members.

St. Paul Island is a remote, rural, primarily Aleut (Alaska Native) community with a population of 479 (Census 2010). Energy costs are high due to the cold climate and the high cost of shipping fuel to the island for both residential consumption and community electricity generation. St. Paul Island’s extreme isolation from resources on the mainland and regional centers results in a severely underserved population and requires that community responses to energy issues be developed and implemented locally.

The Pribilof Islands Aleut Community of St. Paul Island (ACSPI) developed six long-term energy goals guided by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy strategic priorities: (1) Increase the generation of electric power from renewable sources; (2) Improve the energy efficiency of community homes, buildings, and industries; (3) Stimulate the growth of a clean energy manufacturing industry; (4) Integrate clean energy into a reliable, resilient, and efficient local electricity grid; (5) Coordinate with the federal government to implement sustainable clean energy solutions; and (6) Implement effective energy management approaches and processes. The ACSPI works with other community entities, such as Tanadgusix Corporation (TDX), to implement activities that support the  long-term energy goals. This project specifically addresses long-term energy goal #2.

The building affected by the project is a multiuse building, the largest area of which is used by the Aleut Community Store. This existing two-story, brick masonry, 21,700-square-foot building was constructed in 1955. The building is currently used as a store, with several offices on the first floor and on the basement floor. This project addresses the specific need to reduce the operational costs of the Aleut Community Store. Electricity represents 82% of the store’s utility costs; the refrigeration system is estimated to use 72% of the energy needed to run the store. The costs of operating the store will be significantly reduced and energy efficiency improved by upgrading the refrigeration system and display cases and claiming waste heat to heat the building. The total building energy and maintenance costs benefit is expected to be more than $44,000, a 20.68% savings.

The project’s goal specifically addresses the energy efficiency of the Aleut Community Store by installing deep energy retrofits. The objectives for this project are: 1) replace refrigeration equipment and display cases with an energy efficient refrigeration system and energy efficient refrigeration display cases; 2) use waste heat to heat the building; and 3) lower the costs of energy and maintenance for the Aleut Community Store.

Based on energy audits and options analysis, the ACSPI selected the most cost-effective energy and maintenance costs plan. This option includes resizing the refrigeration system based on current refrigeration loads and replacing the existing system with: 1) primary digital compressors using load/unload control strategy; 2) R407A refrigerant to replace R22 that is no longer acceptable for use due to its environmental implication; 3) a heat recovery unit that recovers heat from the refrigeration system to provide building heating; and 4) new display cases featuring higher case insulation values, LED lighting, motion-sensing lighting controls, and ECM fan motors.

It is estimated that a steady state 40,000 BTU/hr. of heat can be recovered from the new refrigeration system heat recovery unit, which can then be used to heat the building. The planned heat recovery unit consists of a glycol tank and plate exchanger that recovers heat from the compression cycle such that it can be used for building heat. This recovery of heat will offset a minimum of 1,156 gallons of diesel heating oil use annually.

St. Paul Island is one of two populated islands in the Pribilof Islands, located in the middle of the Bering Sea 280 air miles north of the Aleutian Chain, 300 air miles west of the Alaska mainland, and 800 air miles west of Anchorage, the nearest urban center. This project will take place at the Aleut Community Store in the center of town

The project is complete. For details, see the final report.

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

The December 2020 and November 2021 project status reports provide more information.