Two Alaska businessmen are eying a wind energy project west of Murphy Dome to bolster the state’s energy grid.
Alaska Renewables, launched by Matt Perkins and Andrew McDonnell, a former University of Alaska Fairbanks adjunct oceanography professor, proposes building the Shovel Creek Wind Project that would generate between 60 and 211 megawatts of power.
The company also plans to develop another project, Little Mount Susitna Wind Project in Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
“We’re still a relatively young company and every conversation we have we learn something new,” Perkins said.
Perkins and McDonnell provided an update at a Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation Energy For All roundtable last week.
“Our goal is to bring renewables into the picture in a meaningful way and deliver transformative, clean and sustainable energy at low, affordable costs,” McDonnell said.
The proposed Murphy Dome project’s scope and size will depend on what the market will need, McDonnell said. A Department of Natural Resources lease document indicates Shovel Creek Wind seeks up to 2,700 acres to hold up to 62 turbines and 200 megawatts of power, about eight times the size of Golden Valley Electrical Association’s Eva Creek wind farm near Healy.
Meadow Bailey, GVEA’s communications director, told the News-Miner Monday that Alaska Renewables submitted a proposal two years ago as part of the utility’s request for information.
“At the time, it was on smaller scale, and it was determined a beneficial project would need to be larger in scale,” Bailey said.
Shovel Creek, along with Little Mount Susitna, are considered mid-stage development and require additional work before they are considered shovel-ready. Permitting, environmental assessments, interconnection and financing options are all part of the workload, McDonnell said.
“The exact scale has yet to be determined because we’re following the lead of the customers we are trying to serve,” McDonnell said. “The scale depends on how much renewable energy the community and GVEA want and potentially other Railbelt utilities want and can integrate into their system.”
McDonnell and Perkins said the Murphy Dome project rose in response to GVEA’s request GVEA plans to eventually seek additional renewable energy sources as part of a strategic generation plan the co-op board adopted in June. The additional renewable resources are part of the utility’s plan to shut down the Healy Power Plant Unit No. 2 by the end of 2024.
“We are waiting and ready to respond to any RFP that comes out,” McDonnell said. “That’s a very important step … because once GVEA issues that RFP, it can accept that competitive bids and each competitor brings forward its best proposal and prices. It functions as a marketplace so that Golden Valley can make the best selection for its membership.”
Bailey on Monday told the News-Miner that GVEA’s renewable energy request for proposal was still being developed.
“GVEA is working with an experienced third-party consultant to the draft the Request for Proposal, it will then be released early next year,” Bailey said.
At that time, Alaska Renewables, along with other companies are welcome to bid on it.
“Respondents will have time to review the RFP, indicate that they intend to respond and then prepare a thorough proposal,” Bailey said. “Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated for completeness, technical feasibility and economics. If a proposed project meets all of the objectives, it will then be subject to board approval before being awarded.”
Both the Little Mount Susitna and Shovel Creek wind projects — if successful — could hook into the wind Railbelt systems.
The proposed project site sits on state-owned land, including general Department of Natural Resources and Tanana State Forest. The project would require a lease from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
McDonnell said the project, if it becomes finalized, could create hundreds of construction jobs.
Both noted the success of GVEA’s Eva Creek wind farm plays in the utility’s portfolio after it came online 2012.
But the technology has advanced, along with the amount of energy it can generate.
“Things have gotten a lot better with larger wind turbines over the years because of costs and reliability,” said Perkins, a former General Electric engineer.
Alaska Renewables took an energy agnostic approach to determine which solutions it could provide, and settled on wind technology after surveying all the wind resources and data over the past several years.
Perkins said Alaska Renewables established monitors on both the Shovel Creek and Little Mount sites to measure actual wind data.
“We’re trying to understand the wind resource, but we’re not done, we have a lot more data to collect,” Perkins said. “But it helps us understand how much the wind drops off and when.”
Collaboration will be a key part, McDonnell said, including community members, potential utility customers and Alaska Native groups.
“We have the existing infrastructure, the gas plants and coal plants, and limited grid system,” McDonnell said.
Other resources include battery storage, which GVEA established itself as a pioneer in 2003 with the largest battery energy storage system (BESS. The utility closed its first request for proposal to replace its BESS with newer technology in the coming years.
Any wind project integration into a local utility’s system would require additional analysis on the existing infrastructure, Perkins said.
“It’s a conversation that is still ongoing,” Perkins said. “The conversation has come along in the last two years since we’ve started the company.”
The project also requires stakeholder input.
“It starts with the community and the problem statements the community has brought forward and deals with on a day-to-day basis, like high costs of energy, poor air quality and the volatility in our energy bills,” McDonnell said. “Our goal was to bring real and actionable solutions to the table that utilities like Golden Valley Electric Association or others across the Railbelt could introduce into their system.”
McDonnell recognized the proposed site, now managed by the state, sits on the traditional Lower Tanana Dene land.
“There’s definitely a rich cultural history in the broader region that we think is very important to engage with,” McDonnell said. “We are definitely committed to working with groups and engaging the full community to make sure a project like this is acceptable, beneficial and welcomed.”