Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project: Resilient Energy Planning for Ouzinkie, Alaska

The goal of this ETIPP technical assistance project was to update plans for improvements to the Ouzinkie, Alaska, power system, in order to support the transition to a more renewably powered, reliable, and resilient system. The analysis was intended to help the community prioritize renewable energy investment projects, and provide the documentation needed for future grant or loan applications. The national laboratory researchers on the ETIPP team (from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories) considered three new energy technologies for addition to the Ouzinkie system - wind, solar, and battery storage - as well as upgrades to the hydropower system. The team compiled data on each technology from a variety of data sources and used these data as inputs to an optimization model that determined the optimal size and location of resources needed to meet electricity need in Ouzinkie. The optimization model used in this technical assistance considered three different goals for upgrading the power system: no investment, least cost, and enhanced reliability.