THE LINK: JULY 2024 36 Funds earmarked for transmission, renewable energy About $1.7 billion in new energy projects, mostly in transmission lines but also new power generation, are on the drawing boards in Southcentral and Interior Alaska, the state’s “railbelt.” The plans being made by the Alaska Energy Authority and the regional utilities. New renewable energy projects are planned to help deal with the pending shortfall in natural gas from Cook Inlet. Additional wind, solar and hydro projects can help offset declining natural gas, at least for the supply of electricity. But an upgraded railbelt power grid is necessary to move the new power. Of the $1.7 billion in new projects, $1.2 billion is in a long-planned upgrade of the railbelt transmission system. The federal government is funding most of this through infrastructure grants but there is a 50-50 match required from Alaska. The first part of the grid upgrade is a 65-mile submarine cable from the Kenai Peninsula to west Cook Inlet with an estimated $413 million cost. The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the federal portion of this and a match from the state of Alaska will come in increments over the planned eight years of construction. The Legislature approved the first payment this year. The second half of the upgrade is from Southcentral Alaska north. It is a 250-mile new transmission line from west Cook Inlet connecting Chugach’s Beluga plant with Golden Valley Electric Association’s transmission system at Healy. The cost of this is estimated at $730 million. AEA will know by late summer whether DOE will award this, but prospects are considered good given the state’s commitment to fund the required 50% match of $213 million. In addition to this is $90 million in transmission upgrades underway or planned by the AEA to upgrade transmission lines on the Kenai Peninsula. Also, $57 million is now available for battery storage in Southcentral and the Interior that will allow utilities to store power from new renewable energy projects that are planned. Because the power from like wind and solar will vary, such as when winds die to clouds obscure the sun, the batteries will offset the variability. A steady source of power is still needed. Natural gas power generation and hydro will continue to supply this. Another proposed project is an expansion of the existing Bradley Lake hydro project near Homer with the planned Dixon Diversion. This is estimated at $342 million and it would expand Bradley Lake’s hydro output by 50%, also reduce the need for 1.5 billion cubic feet a year of natural gas now used for power production. A construction decision depends on results from the 2024-25 field season that will gather geotechnical data. A decision to build will likely come next year. On the $90 million to upgrade the Kenai Pensinula transmission lines, construction will start this year on the first part of an upgrade to 39 miles of transmission line from Quartz Creek (Kenai Lake) to Sterling with funding from surplus bond proceeds from earlier sales of Bradley Lake bonds. The project, which AEA will own, will be complete by 2028. In addition Chugach Electric Association is upgrading the Quartz Creek to Anchorage line, which it owns. The importance of these projects is improving the capacity of the railbelt system to move new renewable energy power as the existing transmission is inadequate. Upgrades and new transmission lines will reduce the loss of power due to inefficiencies of the current system that now costs about $40 million per year, a burden borne by consumers and businesses. What’s also important is the new backup and reliability being built in. The Nikiski-Beluga submarine line, for example, will provide another loop via the west side of Cook Inlet for moving Bradley Lake power to Anchorage and the Matanuska Susitna Borough. That’s in case transmission over the older Kenai Peninsula system is disrupted, as it was a few years ago by wildfires. — Tim Bradner $1.7B in new projects set for ‘railbelt’ power Photos Courtesy Chugach Electric Association Linemen perform work outside in the summer.
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