Project Spotlight: Kotzebue Electric Association
The Roadmap to 100% is an implementation strategy that identifies a path for meeting Kotzebue, Alaska’s power, transportation, and heating needs with clean energy. It focuses on the technology required to transition to clean energy, and identifies tools to help the community accelerate the energy transition while reducing costs and creating new economic development opportunities
Why?
Kotzebue – a hub community of 3,100 people located off the road system in Northwest Alaska – is on the front line of climate change. It presents great risk to the city’s power infrastructure and long-term sustainability. This danger has incentivized Kotzebue Electric Association to partner with Launch Alaska to identify a roadmap to 100% clean energy. By reducing the consumption of diesel, the cooperative will minimize the impact of volatile fuel prices, increase the long-term resiliency of the power system, and improve overall community health and well-being.
Project Summary
The Roadmap to 100% involves several connected projects:
HOMER Energy Analysis - Creates a techno-economic model of the KEA system. An initial step toward a roadmap to 100% clean energy for the community, this analysis evaluated the current performance of the system and the implementation pathway to achieving 50% fuel reduction, or also 50% renewable generation, annually.
Vulnerability Assessment - Provides a digital baseline and identifies vulnerabilities and risks for Kotzebue's power infrastructure to natural disasters and climate change.
Techno-Economic Analysis - Evaluates required technologies, configurations, and economic outcomes of the conversion to clean energy infrastructure in Kotzebue.
Roadmap to 100% Clean Energy - Identifies business models, commercial agreements and financing structures to accelerate the clean energy transition in Kotzebue.
Watch the video below to learn more about how Launch Alaska Portfolio companies are assisting the project.