Guiding Documents
Arctic Energy Office Brochure
As the only regionally focused office in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Arctic Energy Office is unique. It advises DOE on energy and related topics in Alaska and coordinates efforts across DOE program offices to ensure a unified voice on Arctic issues. In this brochure, published in October 2024, read about the Office's work and learn about Alaska's energy potential, opportunities, and energy production.
Fact Sheets
- Arctic Energy Office fact sheet on our goals, projects, and team.
- White House fact sheet on how the Inflation Reduction Act is delivering affordable clean energy for Alaska.
- Critical Minerals in the Arctic policy briefs on community ownership, financing, Infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, supply chain, and workforce.
Reports
Alaska Hydrogen Opportunities Report
This report, produced by the Alaska Hydrogen Energy Working Group and published in April 2024, explores the production, storage/delivery, and end-use options in evolving markets for Alaska, both within and outside the state. It also outlines key opportunities to identify and develop infrastructure investments, policy and regulatory frameworks, future research and demonstration priorities, economic and investment considerations, and workforce programs.
The Alaska Hydrogen Energy Working Group is co-hosted by the University of Alaska's Alaska Center for Energy and Power and the Arctic Energy Office, under the leadership of Director Erin Whitney. This report, a year in the making, introduces key themes for developing a hydrogen economy in Alaska, establishes a baseline understanding of Alaska’s infrastructure and resources relevant to hydrogen, and contextualizes this baseline in terms of national and global initiatives focused on hydrogen. This report could be further developed into a hydrogen roadmap or a statewide hydrogen strategy in the future.
Achieving an 80% Renewable Portfolio in Alaska’s Railbelt: Cost Analysis
Achieving an 80% Renewable Portfolio in Alaska’s Railbelt: Cost Analysis is a report released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in March 2024. This study examines the system-level costs and benefits of increased renewable energy deployment in the Railbelt grid,1 in the context of a proposed 80% renewable portfolio standard (RPS). This work studies the period from 2024 to 2040 and uses a model that simulates the planning, evolution, and operation of the power system to identify the mix of resources that maintains system reliability at the lowest electricity system cost over the period of analysis.
Feasibility Study of Renewable Energy Resources in Alaska Offshore Waters (NREL and BOEM)
This study was conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) under an interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, and released in March 2024. The study assesses the feasibility of ocean-based renewable energy sources that may be available to help Alaska decarbonize its energy supply, increase coastal resilience, and build energy security and independence.
Alaska's Outer Continental Shelf holds an estimated 3,800 gigawatts of potential wind, wave, and tidal energy resource capacity, more than three times the current total generation capacity of the U.S. Read the report to learn more.
Evaluating the Impact of Tidal Energy in the Cook Inlet on Alaska’s Railbelt Electrical Grid
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Technical Report, “Evaluating the Impact of Tidal Energy in the Cook Inlet on Alaska’s Railbelt Electrical Grid” was published in April 2024. Cook Inlet represents approximately 30% of the total tidal energy in the United States. This study takes a scenario-based approach to evaluate the tidal energy potential in the Cook Inlet. Despite several gigawatts (GW) of available resource in the Cook Inlet, the current power grid could only accomodate roughly 200 megawatts (MW). However, transmission and battery investments could increase boost this number to roughly 300 MW. Read the report to learn our key findings and see the data.
Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs Reports
Visit the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs' Resource Library and filter by "Alaska" to see documents about energy issues in Alaska.
Maps
State and Community Energy Projects Project Map for Alaska
One of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) primary forums for helping state and local governments implement cost-effective and productive energy systems for American homes, communities, businesses, and industries is the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP). Check out their summary page here of projects going on in the 49th State.