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Igiugig applies for hydrokinetic pilot
Asks FERC for a 10-year license to continue and expand the testing of an in-river turbine power generation system for the village Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Igiugig Village Council has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a license for an in-river turbine power generation pilot project. The proposal, which follows the testing of a hydrokinetic system in the village in 2014 and 2015, would involve the placement of underwater turbine generators with helical shaped turbine blades, anchored to the bed of the fast-flowing Kvichak River, not far from where the river flows out of Lake Iliamna in southern Alaska. Igiugig is situated adjacent to the river. Power cables from the generator would connect onshore to the village power distribution system.
Ocean Renewable Power Co., a firm that specializes in hydrokinetic power generation systems, has been assisting Igiugig with its hydrokinetic venture. The company built and installed the prototype device used for the testing. The U.S. Department of Energy provided funding assistance. Success with a system of this type at Igiugig could presumably open up the possibility of using hydrokinetics in other rural Alaska locations, as a potential source of electrical power.
ORPC, in conjunction with the village council, has prepared a plan for a pilot project at Igiugig, based on an assumption that FERC would conduct an environmental assessment for the project during the first quarter of 2019. The project would involve two phases. Phase one would entail installing a single turbine in the river in late June 2019. This device would be operated and monitored for a period of up to 12 months. The results of this testing would lead to a decision on whether to proceed to phase two. Phase two would expand the system by installing a second device in the river and connecting this device to the existing cabling for the system.
Each of the turbine generators would have a 35-kilowatt rating.
Could lead to commercial development The application to FERC says that information gleaned from the testing conducted in 2014 and 2015, together with the results of environmental studies conducted in conjunction with the pilot project, would be used during the pilot project to develop an application for a commercial hydrokinetic system development. To this end, the village council has asked for a 10-year license term for the pilot.
The village told FERC that it has been consulting with a number of federal and state agencies regarding the testing of a hydrokinetic device in the Kvichak River.
Igiugig currently uses diesel generators as its prime source of electrical power. The village told FERC that there are also six 1.5-kilowatt wind turbines in various states of functionality. A 70-kilowatt hydrokinetic system could displace the need for 25,000 gallons per year of diesel fuel, the village told FERC. Diesel fuel has to be delivered by air or barge during the summer, for storing in a tank farm adjacent the diesel power plant.
Having conducted tests of the deployment of hydrokinetic technology at Igiugig, the village is now ready to initiate the final development stage of its hydrokinetic project by installing a commercial scale system in the river in 2019 for the pilot project, the village told FERC.
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