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North America / Commercial & demonstration

Kwigillingok Alaska Microgrid

Organizations, planners, suppliers, equipment, controls, and reported system specifications—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations8
System facts20
Sources reviewed7
Last researched2026-07-19

Kwigillingok's high-penetration wind-diesel-heat microgrid uses five 95 kW Windmatic turbines, distributed electric-thermal-storage heaters, a load regulator, smart metering, Frontier's supervisory control, and a later battery integration. Alaska Energy Authority and DOE records separate the installed Kwigillingok equipment from broader Chaninik Wind Group results.

Research status
Operational project in the cited state and DOE reporting periods; later technical assistance documented maintenance needs
Historical classification
Remote
Reported capacity
1,350 kW
Coordinates
59.87466, -163.16138
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 Kwigillingok Alaska Microgrid?

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

Organization

Alaska Energy Authority

State project partner and case-study publisher [3]

Organization

Chaninik Wind Group

Multi-village program organization [4]

Organization

Frontier Power Systems

Microgrid control, SCADA, and battery-integration provider [5][6]

Organization

Intelligent Energy Systems

Wind-diesel technical and system-integration partner [5]

Organization

Kwigillingok Power Company

Community utility and project owner [3]

Organization

Native Village of Kwigillingok

Community and tribal project stakeholder [7]

Organization

Puvurnaq Power Company

Peer-utility technical-assistance provider from Kongiganak [7]

Organization

U.S. Department of Energy

Chaninik program funder and later technical-assistance sponsor [4][7]

System evidence

Reported capacity and specifications

Values can describe different project phases or components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Wind
500 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
850 [1]
Storage
256kW/166kWh [1]
Wind generation
Five 95 kW turbines; 475 kW total rated capacity [3]
Wind-turbine rotor
17 m diameter [3]
Wind-turbine hub height
24.4 m [3]
Reported wind capacity factor
24.5% [3]
Electric thermal storage
27 residential units in the Alaska Energy Authority project sheet; 20 remained in the 2019 technical-assistance account [3][7]
Project cost
$3.2 million ($208,204 design; $2,991,796 construction) [3]
Archived battery value
256 kW / 166 kWh [1]

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

Windmatic — 17-S

Five 95 kW units, 17 m rotor diameter, 24.4 m hub height. [3]

02

Microgrid controller

Frontier Power Systems — e+micro

System master, distributed asset controllers, SCADA, and fast load-regulator functions integrate wind, diesel, thermal storage, and battery resources. [5][6]

03

Electric thermal storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Residential heat-storage units absorb surplus wind energy; manufacturer and heater model are not stated in the reviewed state project sheet. [3][4]

04

Battery energy storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Integrated in 2015 to enable diesel-off operation; the recovered record supplies power and energy values but reviewed public sources do not identify the battery or inverter manufacturer. [5][6][1]

Recovered detail

Additional technical notes

Concise system facts recovered from the historical project record. Treat these as historical unless a newer primary source confirms them.

  • Storage

    Wind Diesel Thermal Storage System [1]

  • Storage

    Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) added in 2014 (260 kW x 15 [1]

  • Surplus-energy dispatch

    At high wind output, the smart-grid controller diverts surplus electricity to metered residential thermal-storage heaters instead of curtailing all excess generation. [4][3]

  • Diesel-off operation

    Frontier reports that the battery and control-system expansion allowed the community to shut down diesel generation during suitable wind and load conditions. [5]

  • Operational history

    A 2019 assistance report found one of five turbines inoperable and arranged peer troubleshooting and Yup'ik-language resident training on thermal-storage use. [7]

  • Program boundary

    DOE's 30% power-plant fuel reduction is a multi-community Chaninik result and is not presented as a Kwigillingok-only measured value. [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 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
    www.bullfrogpower.com

    bullfrogpower.com · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  3. [3]
    Kwigillingok Wind-Diesel Smart Grid

    Alaska Energy Authority · Primary source

  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Alaska wind-diesel-heat projects

    Frontier Power Systems · Primary source

  6. [6]
    Microgrid Experience

    Frontier Power Systems · Primary source

  7. [7]
    DOE Office of Indian Energy Final Report — Calista Regional Corporation

    U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy · Primary source

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