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Kotzebue

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations5
System facts20
Sources reviewed7
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Kotzebue Electric Association operates a diesel-wind-solar-battery district-energy system in Qikiktagruq (Kotzebue), Alaska. A federal FY2026 strategic plan provides an unusually complete as-operated inventory: 12.111 MW of diesel engines, 1.096 MW of solar PV, only 1.8 MW of presently functional wind capacity out of a larger aging fleet, and a 1.225 MW/950 kWh Saft lithium-ion battery, plus recovered heat, electric boilers, and residential thermal storage. In 2024 the system delivered 21.66 GWh, with 20% from non-diesel resources and 1.219 million gallons of diesel consumed.

Research status
Operational but still approximately 80% diesel by annual electricity in 2024. Two 900 kW EWT turbines were functional in the FY2026 inventory; the older Vestas, Northwind, and fifteen AOC turbines were listed as needing repair. The 2015 battery remains in service but was described to Alaska legislators in April 2025 as nearing end of life. Proposed additions—two 1 MW turbines, 700 kW solar, and a 4 MW/8-12 MWh grid-forming battery—were not yet built in the strategic plan, and a $20 million EPA grant for the Native Village's wind project was terminated in May 2025. Funding and final scope therefore remain uncertain.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
1,200 kW
Coordinates
66.89833, -162.59667
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Kotzebue?

5 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Alaska Center for Energy and Power

Research partner evaluating wind-to-heat and broader renewable expansion options. [6][7]

Organization

Kotzebue Electric Association

Community utility and owner/operator of the diesel, wind, solar, battery, electric-boiler, and heat-recovery assets. [2][3]

Organization

National Laboratory of the Rockies / U.S. Department of Energy

Technical-assistance team and author/sponsor of the FY2026 strategic energy plan that consolidates current equipment and performance data. [2]

Organization

Native Village of Kotzebue

Partner and project sponsor for proposed new renewable assets; its planned two-turbine project lost a $20 million EPA grant in May 2025. [2][5]

Organization

Saft

Supplier of the containerized lithium-ion BESS and its Arctic thermal package. [3]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Wind
1140 [1]
Storage
950 kWh [1]
2024 annual electricity and fuel
21,659,492 kWh sold/generated in the plan's system table; 20% non-diesel, 1,219,298 gallons of diesel, 14.26 kWh per gallon, and 8.1% line losses [2]
Diesel generation capacity
12.111 MW across six units: Caterpillar 1,135 kW and 725 kW; EMD 1,441 kW, two 2,865 kW units, and one 3,080 kW unit [2]
Functional wind capacity in FY2026 inventory
1.8 MW from two 900 kW EWT DW54 turbines installed in 2012 [2]
Aging wind fleet requiring repair
One 65 kW Vestas V15, one 100 kW Northwind 100, and fifteen AOC 15/50 turbines listed at 66 kW each. Their nameplate should not be counted as currently functional output. [2]
Solar capacity
1,076 kW of bifacial utility PV installed in 2020 and 2023, plus 20 kW behind the water plant installed in 2015; 1.096 MW total listed solar capacity [2]
Battery storage
1,225 kW / 950 kWh lithium-ion system installed in 2015 for spinning reserve and frequency support [2][3]
Electric heat assets
450 kW electric boiler at Maniilaq installed in 2014 and 108 kW electric boiler at the National Park Service installed in 2022, plus residential electric thermal-storage heaters [2][6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Wind turbines

EWT — DW54-900

Two functional 900 kW turbines, installed in 2012. The separate older Vestas, Northwind, and AOC fleet is listed as needing repair. [2]

02

Battery energy storage

Saft — Intensium Max+ 20M

A 950 kWh lithium-ion container with a cold-climate package including insulation and hydronic heating; the FY2026 plan rates the grid interface at 1.225 MW. [3][2]

03

Solar PV

Model not publicly disclosed

The 1.076 MW utility portfolio uses bifacial modules. Public sources reviewed do not identify module, inverter, racking, or tracker manufacturers and models. [2]

04

Diesel generation and heat recovery

Caterpillar and EMD

Six diesel units supply firm capacity; recovered engine heat is circulated for useful thermal loads. Individual engine models and current hours/availability were not published in the strategic plan. [2]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Storage

    Battery – Saft Intensium Max+20M [1]

  • Measured diesel dependence

    Despite decades of renewable integration, 80% of 2024 electricity remained diesel-supplied. The plan reports that annual diesel electricity has fallen about 20% since 1995, which is a long-term system trend rather than a storage-only savings claim. [2]

  • Grid services

    The BESS provides spinning reserve and frequency support so wind can displace diesel without keeping as much engine reserve online. Saft attributes broader fuel and cost savings to the integrated wind-storage system, but its case study does not isolate battery-only causality. [2][3]

  • Wind-to-heat

    Electric boilers and residential thermal-storage heaters absorb otherwise excess wind energy. ACEP's 2024 work evaluated household heaters that charge when excess wind is available, coupling electric and thermal dispatch. [2][6]

  • Proposed grid-forming expansion

    The strategic plan evaluates two new 1 MW wind turbines, 700 kW of solar, and a 4 MW/8-12 MWh lithium-ion battery capable of roughly two hours of community supply and diesel-off operation. These are planning values, not installed capacity. [2][4]

  • Funding risk

    The FY2026 plan flags uncertain funding, and public-radio reporting says EPA terminated a $20 million grant for the Native Village of Kotzebue's two-turbine wind project in May 2025. Other storage/solar funding streams should not be assumed canceled without separate evidence. [2][5]

  • Open evidence gaps

    No 2025 full-year energy mix, turbine-by-turbine availability, BESS state of health, current usable energy, renewable curtailment, outage indices, or final financing/commissioning schedule for the expansion was located. [2][4]

Provenance

7 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    Qikiktagruq Energy Strategic Plan

    National Laboratory of the Rockies / U.S. Department of Energy · Primary source

  3. [3]
  4. [4]
    House Special Committee on Energy meeting, April 1, 2025

    Alaska State Legislature · Primary source

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
    Excess wind energy helps heat Kotzebue homes

    Alaska Center for Energy and Power · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Investigating viable expansions of renewable energy in Kotzebue

    Alaska Center for Energy and Power · Primary source

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