Unalakleet Native Corporation – 2018 Project

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

Summary

The Unalakleet microgrid is currently powered by a wind-diesel system comprising four 475-kilowatt (kW) diesel gensets and six 100-kW wind turbines. This project will upgrade and increase voltage on the transmission line, and improve the control and data acquisition system and associated data management systems at the power plant. These upgrades will increase wind penetration from about 23% of total electric production up to approximately 37%, which represents a savings of nearly 44,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year, and reduce annual maintenance costs by nearly $34,000.

Unalakleet Native Corporation (UNC) is an Alaska Native Village Corporation formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) to represent the people of Unalakleet, Alaska. UNC manages the land and natural resources in and around Unalakleet for the benefit of its shareholders. Unalakleet Native Corporation is partnering with Unalakleet Valley Electric Cooperative (UVEC) on this project. UVEC is a nonprofit cooperative utility that owns, manages, maintains, and operates the microgrid that supplies Unalakleet’s power. As a customer-owned cooperative serving a community that is 85% Alaska Native or American Indian, the cooperative is majority tribally owned.

Currently powered by a wind-diesel system comprising four 475-kW diesel gensets and six 100-kW wind turbines, the Unalakleet microgrid is the sole source of electricity for the community’s 745 residents and serves all essential tribal loads. Located on the western-central Alaska coastline, nearly 400 miles from the nearest major power grid, the Unalakleet microgrid does not have the option of grid connection; therefore, resilience and reliability are of utmost importance. Long-term goals include maximized renewable penetration, stabilized energy costs, and optimized system resilience achieved through operating with diesels off during high winds.

This project proposes upgrading and increasing voltage along a portion of the transmission line between the wind farm and the power plant from 4.16 kilovolts (kV) to 12.47 kV, as well as making improvements to the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and associated data management systems in the power plant.

The objective of this project is to improve the stability of Unalakleet’s grid while significantly increasing wind penetration and, therefore, decreasing diesel consumption by nearly 44,000 gallons annually for a cost savings exceeding $130,000, and preparing the system for future incorporation of storage and additional renewables.

The power generation system is operational, but not performing to its full potential. There are a variety of inter-related factors preventing optimal wind production, but most issues can be traced back to constraints in the transmission line between the wind farm and the power plant.

The proposed upgrades, which primarily consist of conductors and transformers, will eliminate foundational vulnerabilities in the transmission/distribution lines, increase the portion of essential tribal loads powered by local energy resources, and increase wind penetration from about 23% of total electric production to approximately 37% through reduced line loss and improved system integration. This represents an additional nearly 44,000 gallons of diesel fuel offset each year, equivalent to an annual savings of more than $130,000 on fuel alone. Improved wind penetration will allow for more efficient genset operation overall and more frequent single genset operation (as compared to two generators running simultaneously now at low/inefficient loading), reducing genset runtime and frequency of overhauls. This is expected to decrease annual maintenance costs on top of the fuel savings, and reduce combined emissions of nitrogen and sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter by nearly 18 tons annually.

The overall approach to the project is based on a collaboration led by UNC and UVEC, with additional technical team members who have already had significant involvement in the community and energy system analysis. Because this project will entail borrowing and repaying a loan from UVEC’s lender, the partners must ensure rigorous analysis and planning leading to achieved cost savings prior to procuring materials and performing construction upgrades. They have set clear definitions of the project goals and the responsibilities of each team member, established transparent and frequent communication, and taken steps to ensure full accountability from all parties. 

This project will upgrade transmission line and associated components from the Federal Aviation Administration intersection to the power plant in order to increase the line voltage from 4.16 kV to 12.47 kV. In addition to the transmission line upgrade, this project also includes improvements to the SCADA and related data management systems.

The implementation of the combined transmission line and SCADA upgrades will lead to immediate fuel and cost savings by increasing wind penetration through reduced line loss and alleviating the grid stability issues that force operators to curtail wind production. Reduced demand for reactive power at the wind farm, combined with a new and improved SCADA system, will facilitate increased periods of single-genset operation, further reducing diesel consumption by improving genset efficiency.

Unalakleet is located on the western-central coast of Alaska on the Norton Sound at the mouth of the Unalakleet River. The community lies 148 miles southeast of the nearest hub community (Nome) and 395 miles from the nearest road system or major power grid in the urban centers of Fairbanks and Anchorage. The 745 residents of Unalakleet, as well as all public and commercial entities operating within, depend upon UVEC as their primary and often sole source of electricity.

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 December 2018.

The project status reports provide more information.