Alaskan Villages get Smart Grid With Smart Grid as a Service

摘要

The Alaska wind howls like wolves, and temperatures tumble to minus 40. Here, where power equals survival, nearly 200 far-flung villages have zero backup generation. Communities speckled across the state depend on localized diesel power plants and small microgrids for electricity. Fuel supply, however, is a constant worry; fuel barges navigate the melted summer sea only four months before chilly waters revert to impassable miles of ice. Midwinter outages mean villagers cannot heat their homes, schools cannot operate and planes cannot land. To fight such barriers, four tribal villages committed to cut their energy costs and diesel dependence. They got a smarter grid. In 2005, leaders from the southwestern Alaska villages Kipnuk (population 639), Kongiganak (population 439), Kwigillingok (population 321) and Tuntutuliak (population 408) formed Chaninik Wind Group with local utility managers and energy consultants.