n a landmark investment, the US Department of Energy (DOE) committed $54.8 million to provide clean energy access to Northwest Alaska’s remote communities. The Northwest Arctic Borough (NAB) made the grant request in conjunction with NANA Regional Corporation, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC), Kotzebue Electric Association, and Renewable Energy Alaska Project. Combined with matching funds and other contributions—including a $5 million match to other funds contributed by NANA—the NAB will have $68.5 million for the initiative. The project aims to offset approximately 350,000 gallons of fuel oil annually and save regional residents $2 million in electricity and heating costs. The federal and local investment aims to address the unique energy challenges faced by the region’s remote villages while at the same time advancing energy independence and climate resilience.

Accepting the grant in February 2024, NANA CEO and President John Lincoln said, “This award is an incredible win for NANA shareholders and residents in Northwest Alaska. The cost of energy in our region creates a burden on families and suppresses economic development. By exploring other energy sources with our regional partners, we are building a stronger tomorrow with more opportunities for our shareholders.”

According to DOE, the project includes the installation of 4 MW of solar photovoltaics, more than 7.1 MWh of battery storage systems, and 850 heat pumps across the Northwest Arctic region. A press release on the project notes, “This project seeks to replace a 10-mile overhead distribution tie-line between the villages of Kobuk and Shungnak, allowing for greater interconnection in this remote region. Each of the ten solar and battery storage projects will be owned and maintained by eleven federally recognized Alaska Native villages, who will act as Independent Power Producers (IPP). As proposed, the Native villages will be able to sell the power to their corresponding utility, potentially raising an estimated $970,000 in annual revenue.”

The eleven communities covered by the grant include Ambler, Buckland, Deering, Kiana, Kivalina, Kobuk, Kotzebue, Noatak, Noorvik, Selawik, and Shungnak.

As part of its Community Benefits Plan, the project would develop a Memorandum of Agreement with each of the eleven recognized Alaska Native villages to ensure a clear framework for promoting local hire, transferring ownership agreements, and creating meaningful engagement. Project partners may be expected to implement a local hiring preference of 50 percent for Alaska Natives and local job seekers, leveraging the UA System’s Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program to source candidates. The project’s proposed work also provides 100 percent of its benefits to disadvantaged communities.

Several Northwest Alaska communities have already demonstrated that renewable energy can work—even in Arctic locations. Kotzebue Electric Association has operated wind turbines successfully for years, and there is already a Shungnak-Kobuk Community Solar Independent Power Producer project. The Clean Energy in Northwest Alaska grant will expand current renewable systems while at the same time bringing clean energy infrastructure to several communities that currently rely solely on diesel power.

In addition to the diesel fuel and cost savings, the project will demonstrate “a new power-distribution technology for potential replication in other remote communities,” DOE says.

Each of the eleven communities will receive targeted improvements designed for their unique energy needs. Ambler, Kiana, Kivalina, Kobuk, Noorvik, and Selawik will receive solar panels and battery storage systems. The other five villages, which already have solar power, will upgrade their existing systems. These include Buckland, Deering, Kotzebue, Noatak, and Shungnak.

“The project will go for four years and build out solar batteries as big as we can possibly get them,” says NAB Energy Manager Ingemar Mathiasson. “We can get about 25 percent of renewable energy from the sun, and [DOE] acknowledged our request. We are a 700 kW array with a 2 MW battery, and it should be operational by 2026 sometime,” he says.

In addition to building utility-scale systems, Mathiasson notes that there is also funding set aside to put “mini split” heat pumps into 865 households around Kotzebue, which will offset a significant amount of diesel fuel.

“It’s a long-term transition that’s coming to partial fruition,” he says, speaking ahead to the future of clean energy in the Borough. “We’ll see if we can get more wind at that point. Kotzubue has about 30 percent. Two other villages have 10 and 17 percent respectively. We can’t put wind in all of the communities, but we also have a hydro project that may be able to be accessed. If we can get there, the communities can get close to 100 percent. It’s a project to maximize resources for all eleven communities that was just obligated in December.”

Between the initial funding announcement and the money being contracted in December, the funding was a bit precarious, says AVEC President and CEO Bill Stamm.

“We are in the process of working with the Northwest Arctic Borough to upgrade our power plants,” Stamm adds. “There are some control upgrades that have to be done in these plants in order to receive power from a different source (solar and battery) and control that with the diesel.”

The rebuilt powerline between Kobuk and Shugnak will also demonstrate a new technology. Stamm explains, “We’re going to rebuild that so that it can transmit power in AC [alternating current] but also pilot to transmit power via DC [direct current]. We’re hoping to prove out that technology so that we might be able to join communities that are a little bit further apart. We’re limited in what we can do on an AC system at that capacity, and we’re hoping DC will allow us to do that a bit further out.”

Stamm notes that AVEC is currently working on procurement and design to complete its Selawik upgrades. Meanwhile, NAB is composing bids for the batteries and solar systems it will build on its end.

For the eleven communities in the NAB, energy costs are a critical challenge. Northwest Alaska’s communities pay some of the highest energy costs in the nation. Diesel prices sometimes reach $18 per gallon, which can eat up large portions of income, creating significant financial strain. According to a 2022 NANA study, nearly half of households surveyed said they could not afford electricity or heating. Many remote villages rely on diesel fuel, which must be transported on barges during short periods in the summer when sea ice retreats enough to allow access or brought in by air in some circumstances. Dependence on diesel creates economic issues for village residents and leaves communities vulnerable to supply chain issues and environmental risks.

“The entire region relies heavily on imported fossil fuel to heat and electrify everything there, so diesel is the lifeblood of those communities, and it’s expensive, very volatile in price, and difficult to move around,” says Chris Rose, founder and executive director of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project. “It can spill, and it has emissions, but most of all it’s expensive. And those communities for some time have been trying to reduce the amount of diesel they use for both heating and electricity uses, and the grant will address both of those issues.”

Infrastructure improvements, modernized power distribution systems, and updated transmission lines (where applicable) will improve reliability and reduce system outages. A significant reduction in diesel fuel consumption will result in decreased risk of fuel spills during delivery, lower carbon emissions, and reduced noise pollution from diesel generators. Lower diesel generator use also means improved air quality, enhanced power reliability, better emergency preparedness, and a more stable power supply. Decreased dependence on diesel fuel will potentially save every household thousands of dollars annually.

“My understanding is that they are testing high-performance heat pumps from LG, and if they are as good as they seem to be, every household would have an alternative heating system to imported heating oil, and every household would have a significant chunk of the electricity that runs that system coming from the sun,” says Rose. “The other thing this grant will do is help the region study the power systems there to make sure that they are adequate to take on the challenge of an electricity load—to make sure that the individual grids can handle it.”

The DOE grant, along with the additional funding from community partners, represents a significant step toward energy independence and sustainability for one of America’s most challenging regions. By combining technical innovations with community engagement, the project aims to create lasting positive changes that extend far beyond the current generation. As implementation continues, this initiative could serve as a blueprint for similar projects in remote communities worldwide, demonstrating how renewable energy can be successfully deployed in even the most demanding environments.