One hundred utilities serve fewer than 800,000 people in the state, with some providing power to fewer than 100. This decentralized approach has sparked innovation focused on clean energy, says Asmus, not because of government regulations, but because renewables make economic sense.

“No one has ever told the story of Alaska's energy history from the viewpoint of renewables integration and microgrids,” Asmus told Microgrid Knowledge.

Alaska’s electricity rates are high, traditionally because communities are remote and have relied on diesel in the past, he added. But that’s changing.

For example, Kodiak Island, the second-largest island in the U.S., has a microgrid running on 99% renewables. Ten years ago, the island acquired about 20% of its power from diesel generators, and the rest from hydropower. But during dry years, when enough hydropower wasn’t available, diesel use jumped, creating unpredictable energy prices. In 2009, Kodiak Electric Association installed three wind turbines and added a battery bank to provide energy while hydropower ramps up.

Stories of hope against all odds

Kodiak Island’s focus on renewables is a story, like others told in the book, of “hope against all odds,” Asmus said in the book’s introduction.

One challenge: “No one wanted to sell wind turbines to Alaska because it was too far away,” Asmus said during the interview. “Just getting certain kinds of equipment is difficult.” That’s because rivers are often frozen so utilities can’t ship wind turbines up to remote sites. When the river melts, the land is too mushy for turbine installations, he added.

“You have to wait until winter when there’s permafrost, then you can install the turbines,” Asmus said. “That’s a lot of the story–how they had to figure out how to make things work under extreme circumstances.”

One chapter, “Kotzebue: A Wind and Solar Pioneer,” describes a community microgrid that initially used small, early-generation wind turbines. It evolved into a microgrid combining larger, more modern wind technology with PV and utility-scale batteries.

This microgrid was the brainchild of Brad Reeve, former manager of the Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA) in the 1990s, Asmus said in the book. The utility-scale wind market was beginning to get a foothold in the power-generating industry.

Wind energy gets a boost in Kotzebue

“There was a healthy degree of skepticism about the role wind energy could play in commercial wind generation anywhere, let alone in an isolated community above the Arctic Circle,” Asmus said. “But Brad believed it could be done, and he set out to prove it.” Reeve wrote a chapter in the book that tells that story.

In that chapter, Reeve said that, as a result of the project, KEA was seen as always looking for ways to transition to renewables.

In another chapter, Alaska native and Igiugig Village Council President AlexAnna Salmon tells how she worked with the community to create an innovative micro-utility.  Igiugig Village Council is a federally recognized tribe and the governing body for Igiugig, a remote community with 70 residents,

“One of the more powerful Yup’ik values is called ellangua, or awareness,” wrote. “Our energy work grew from gaining awareness about the impacts of our diesel system and greenhouse gases on the climate.”

Community members used indigenous knowledge to deploy hydrokinetic microgrid

Community members who have relied on salmon for many years used their indigenous knowledge to install a hydrokinetic turbine, which resembles a wind turbine placed underwater, in the Upper Kvichak River to protect salmon runs, Asmus said. Community members know when and where salmon swim during certain times of year. With this knowledge, they deployed the hydrokinetic turbine, which moves up and down seasonally to reduce fish kills, he explained. The community’s microgrid also includes battery storage.

Policies such as renewable portfolio standards needed

While communities in Alaska have deployed innovative microgrids through decentralized, community-led efforts, they need policies that support renewable energy integration, Asmus said.

For example, those communities need a state renewable portfolio standard and could also leverageIt’s possible Alaska could export hydrogen instead of oil and gas. And communities need to move beyond the mentality of applying for grants and find ways to fund projects, Asmus said.

While the state could benefit from new policies, its experience deploying renewable microgrids still has much to offer the rest of the world, Asmus said in the last chapter.

“From logistical challenges due to a lack of roads to the need for appropriately scaled technologies that can be managed by local labor, Alaska remains a testing ground for new innovative technologies,” Asmus wrote. If innovative technologies can work in Alaska, they can work anywhere, he added.

“The state’s microgrid portfolio has more diverse resources–wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and multiple forms of hydro technologies–than any other place in the world,” Asmus said.