Valley winds create megawatts of power

August 21, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - The winds of change could bring megawatts of clean power to the Mat-Su Valley.

Matanuska Electric Association recently announced it would sacrifice its portion of the Railbelt Energy Fund if the state transfers the entire fund into the pending Renewable Energy Fund. A recent Mat-Su Borough poll shows that 88 percent of Valley residents want their electricity to come from renewable sources, like wind.

However, of 205 megawatts of proposed electric generation proposed in Matanuska Electric Association's Integrated Resource Plan, 5 come from renewable resources, according to MEA's 2007 Integrated Resource Plan. Matanuska Electric currently draws 19.5 megawatts from the Eklutna Lake and Bradely Lake hydroelectric projects.

Alaska has an abundance of renewable resources. With 34,000 miles of coastline for wave and tidal power, a chain of geothermal hot-spots bubbling up the Aleutians past Wasilla, biomass from fish oil, saw mills, landfill and Alaska's current largest source of renewable power, which produces 24 percent of the state's total electrical energy, hydroelectric, according to the Alaska Energy Authority. The communities along the Railbelt Intertie, the high-voltage line strung from Seward to Fairbanks, have rich renewable options nearby.

Within 50 miles of the Intertie, near enough to connect by cable, lie several unique sources of renewable power.

The volcanic Mount Spurr has the potential to produce megawatts of renewable geothermal power, according to the Alaska Energy Authority.

Adjacent to Mount Spurr is Lake Chakachamna, a potential 300-400 megawatt hydropower source, according to a 1980s study by the Alaska Power Authority. South of Lake Chakachamna are Cook Inlet's Forelands. The Forelands have good to excellent wind resources, according to the Alaska Energy Authority.

A scaled down Susitna Dam project could provide the Mat-Su Valley with at least 200-megawatts according to Earle Ausman of Polar Consultants.

Ausman also said that the Valley has 30 megawatts to 40 megawatts of Run of the River hydroelectric resources. Run of the River captures the energy in the natural flow of the river and eliminates the need for large dams.

TXU Energy of Texas has proposed a plant to build 3,000 megawatts of new wind energy in Texas. The company, in conjunction with Shell, will use novel technology to better utilize Texas wind, said TXU spokesperson Thomas Kleckner.

Because wind in Texas blows mostly at night and enegy-intensive air conditioner use rises with the triple-digit temperature during the day, TXU and Shell had to find a way to store energy for use when it is most needed. The Airsource Technology, used in prototype projects in Iowa and Alabama, could bridge this gap, said Kleckner.

Nighttime electricity from TXU's wind turbines will be used to run air compressors that fill huge chambers dug under the Texas scrub brush, Kleckner said. During the heat of the day this air will be released, spinning turbines that resemble those used in natural gas generators.

Kleckner said that wind power is affordable energy.

&#8220Essentially, once you have the wind turbines built there is very little other cost. You don't have to buy fuel, the wind is free,” Kleckner said.

Wind turbines do need maintenance.

Traditionally wind energy capacity is around 35 percent in Texas, but could be improved by the storage technology, Kleckner said.

Chris Sauer of Ocean Renewable Power Corporation said his company plans to put a test tidal turbine into the Knik Arm in the spring of 2008. The prototype turbine will be used to test the concept in the fast-moving currents of the Knik. If the prototype proves feasible, Sauer said Knik could support tidal generation up to about 17 megawatts.

"The renewable energy fund plays a critical role in providing incentives for development of new renewable energy technologies. Our tidal demonstration project we are conducting in Maine this November is a classic example,” said Chris Sauer, Ocean Renewable Power Corporation. &#8220We could not do this critical demonstration of our OCGenT technology without financial support that came from the renewable energy funds in Maine and Massachusetts. Almost two-thirds of the funding needed came from renewable energy funding."

Alaska Energy Authority and Renewable Energy Alaska Project recently released its &#8220Renewable Energy Atlas of Alaska,” a 24-page estimate of Alaska's hydro, wind, biomass, solar and geothermal energy resources, www.aidea.org/aea.

Contact Russell Stigall at

352-2267 or russell.stigall@

frontiersman.com