Wales Alaska High Penetration Wind-Diesel Hybrid Power System

<p>To reduce the cost of rural power generation and the environmental impact of diesel fuel usage the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA a rural Alaskan utility) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) began a collaboration in late 1995 to implement a high-penetration wind-diesel hybrid power system in a village in northwest Alaska. The project was intended to be both a technology demonstration and a pilot for commercial replication of the system in other Alaskan villages. During the first several years of the project NREL focused on the design and development of the electronic controls the system control software and the ancillary components (power converters energy storage electric dump loads communications links etc.) that would be required to integrate new wind turbines with the existing diesels in a reliable highly automated system. Meanwhile AEA and KEA focused on project development activities including wind resource assessment site selection and permitting community relationship building and logistical planning. Ultimately the village of Wales Alaska was chosen as the project site. Wales is a native Inupiat village of approximately 160 inhabitants with an average electric load of about 75 kW.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p><br>