AEA completes Battle Creek project

Alan Bailey

for Petroleum News

The Alaska Energy Authority has completed the Battle Creek diversion project, a project designed to increase the capacity of the Bradley Lake powerhouse in the southern Kenai Peninsula by about 10%. On Aug. 25 the agency held a ribbon cutting ceremony at Bradley Lake to celebrate the project completion. The Bradley Lake facility reliably feeds some of the cheapest power into the Alaska Railbelt electrical system.

The Battle Creek project, which began in May 2018, involved the construction of a concrete dam, enabling the diversion of water from the west fork of upper Battle Creek through a 1.7-mile buried pipeline and a 1,000-foot canal to Bradley Lake. A diversion management plan will ensure the maintenance of an adequate flow of water in Battle Creek below the diversion dam. The project will result in the annual production of 37,000 megawatts of energy annually, sufficient to provide power for 5,000 homes AEA says.

“For those of us who believe that hydroelectric power is a renewable energy source, this project will increase the use of renewable energy in our state,” said AEA Board Chair Dana Pruhs. “This use of renewable energy aligns well with our state’s aspirational goal to achieve a higher percentage of renewable energy in our future.”

“Hydroelectric power is Alaska’s largest source of renewable energy, supplying nearly a quarter of the state’s electricity in an average water year,” said AEA Executive Director Curtis Thayer. “The diversion of water from Battle Creek to behind the Bradley Lake dam will allow even more energy at lower cost to be produced and delivered to ratepayers, reducing the cost of energy in Alaska.”

While managed by AEA, the project will ultimately be paid for through electricity rates charged to utility customers in the Railbelt. AEA was able to make use of low cost Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, authorized by the Internal Revenue Service, for part of the project financing. AEA says that the project is the largest upgrade to the Bradley Lake facility since the facility went into operation in September 1991. The facility is owned by AEA and operated under contract by Homer Electric Association. The Bradley Project Management Committee, consisting of representatives of the Railbelt electric utilities, oversees the operation of the system.

- ALAN BAILEY