(For prior week's news, please visit the ACEP This Week Archive)

ACEP is entering a new phase with our geothermal project at Pilgrim Hot Springs. Preliminary results show that the geothermal resource at Pilgrim Hot Springs has the potential to generate two to four megawatts of electricity. This finding and its future potential for the community has interested a private energy developer, Pilgrim Geothermal LLC, who would like to develop the resource and transmit power to Nome should it be shown capable of generating at least 2MW of power. ACEP, in partnership with the US Department of Energy and local community and native organizations have collaborated to drill an exploratory well this fall to confirm this resource.

With the mobilization for the 2013 drilling program at Pilgrim Hot Springs underway, ACEP will begin daily updates on the project through October. ACEP Project Coordinator Chris Pike recently left to oversee the project, spending the next 6 weeks in the field to ensure everything goes well for the contractors, land owners and users of the springs. At this time, the camp is under development and road upgrades have been completed to the Unaatuq property gate. The drill pad is being prepared, and we expect to move the drill rig and associated equipment to the site soon, with a planned drilling date (if all goes well) of August 30th.

A summarized schedule of activities can be found on the Pilgrim project page.

To receive the daily updates contact Max Frey (mefrey@alaska.edu).

The Nome Chamber of Commerce voted to support geothermal research at UAF’s Alaska Center for Energy and Power in recognition of its economic potential in their region. This vote demonstrated their support for the project and its potential economic benefit through a $5000 donation, one of the largest in its history. 

ACEP collaborated with Southern Methodist University to assist them in improving the Heat Flow Map of Alaska . The revised map provides improved resolution of the geothermal gradient map, allowing for a more focused understanding of potential resources in the state.  

Report: Updated Heat Flow of Alaska New Insights into the Thermal Regime

The Department of Energy’s EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) recently announced that ACEP will receive renewed funding to enhance the capacity at the University of Alaska (UA) to provide leadership in developing diesel-renewable hybrid energy systems for islanded, non-integrated electric grids and their associated oil-based heating systems. The overarching project goal is to increase energy self-reliance in Alaska’s remote rural communities by reducing dependence on imported diesel fuel through strategies that can be replicated elsewhere. Reducing diesel dependence in these communities would provide a model for reducing carbon emissions and economic dependency in remote communities globally.

Integration is a central feature of our program: Integration of renewables with diesel generation; integration of university researchers across disciplines and with community partners; and integration of our facilities and resources with those of our national partners.

Our proposal consists of mutually reinforcing tasks, each focused around a key objective:

1. Improve Data Management:
2. Address Engineering Challenges

View the full proposal.

ACEP’s Biomass Coordinator, Amanda Byrd, is in Yakutat for a second week of forest inventory for the City and Borough of Yakutat and the National Forest Foundation. While there, she will also meet with the City and Borough of Yakutat and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe and the Yak-Tat Kwaan with George Roe, ACEP’s newest faculty member, for a follow up on the Scenario workshop previously held in the community. Amanda and George will also be accompanied by volunteer Sam Chamberlain.

Newly-hired affiliated faculty member, George Roe recently visited Boise State University (August 20) and Idaho National Laboratory (August 21-22).  At Boise State, he met with faculty and students to discuss potential collaborations and learn more about their Industrial Assessment Center work, and met with CAES Energy Efficiency Research Institute staff for discussions about their energy efficiency and system modeling experience and capabilities.   At INL, George joined a team from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association for a general review of the lab’s capabilities, and conducted side meetings with INL researchers about possible INL-ACEP partnership areas.

ACEP’s 2013 student interns are headed back to school after a summer spent working on applied research projects.  Hear what they had to say about their experience:

This week’s highlighted vodcast:

Anne Goering
Undergraduate
Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois

Anne’s focus during her internship was working on ACEP’s Emerging Energy Technology Fund.

ACEP Program Assistant, Max Frey, attended the 8th Annual Chena Hot Springs Renewable Energy Fair on August 18th.  While at the Fair ACEP’s booth offered participants hands on activities for children and adults to learn more about energy projects in Alaska.

Also at the Chena Fair was Robotics Team 3595.  ACEP Researcher, Tom Johnson, lead Robotics Team 3595 in talks and demonstrations. This local Fairbanks team, recently returned from competing in Australia, were able to present their designs to US Senator Lisa Murkowski, US Representative Don Young and Alaska’s Lt. Governor Treadwell. Follow the Robotics team on Facebook.

Arctic Sun’s Project Manager Nathan Stumpff and CEO Thorsten Chlupp share tips and tricks for developing a system for your remote cabin or off-grid home. Join them and learn how to power up your Bush lifestyle.

Tuesday, August 27th at The Blue Loon from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.

For more information on the Sustainable Energy Summer Education Series visit the Arctic Sun website.

ACEP will be closed September 3rd in observance of Labor Day. We will resume regular business hours on September 4th.  Happy Holidays!

The Alaska Center for Energy & Power is an applied research program under the Institute of Northern Engineering located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.   For more information contact Julie Estey, Business Director, Julie.estey@alaska.edu.

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