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Many remote Arctic communities have high energy costs due to energy inefficient buildings and the use of expensive, imported fuel oil for both electricity generation and space heating. Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are partnering with the community of Kotzebue, Alaska on a field study to investigate whether displacing fuel oil used for space heating with energy efficiency improvements and renewably generated electricity can substantially reduce households’ energy cost burden, reduce carbon emissions, and increase the renewable energy contribution in islanded microgrids in remote Arctic communities. The project will also extend a microgrid model to consider thermal loads, examine the policy changes required to expand the use of renewably generated electricity for space heating, and create energy education and training opportunities.
Baseline data on heating fuel oil and electricity consumption for fifteen households is being collected. The households have been split into treatment and control groups. This summer, energy efficiency retrofits will be conducted and electric thermal storage heaters, a type of supplementary heating appliance that will be powered by reduced-price excess wind energy, will be installed. The impact of these treatments on home energy use and costs over the next year will be assessed.
Project collaborators include the Kotzebue Electric Association, Native Village of Kotzebue, Northwest Arctic Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough School District, T3 Alliance, Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP), RurAL CAP, Intelligent Energy Systems, and the study participants.
If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about this project, please contact Dominique Pride (PI) at djpride@alaska.edu.
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