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North America / Commercial & demonstration

Kwigillingok Alaska Microgrid

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations8
System facts34
Sources reviewed15
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Kwigillingok's community system is a high-penetration wind-diesel-heat microgrid built around five 95 kW Windmatic 17-S turbines, electric thermal-storage heaters, a lithium-ion BESS added in 2014-2015, and Frontier Power Systems' e+micro supervisory control and SCADA. The BESS/control phase enabled diesel-off operation during sufficient wind. Supplier claims say diesel generators can remain off at least 33% of the year and fuel-cost savings reach 50% or better, but those figures are not accompanied by a dated independent measurement report.

Research status
Core system operational in the latest explicit system accounts, but turbine condition and current availability are incompletely documented. A 2019 DOE assistance report found one of five turbines inoperable and only 20 of the original 27 thermal-storage units still present. Alaska Energy Authority described all five 1980s-era turbines as needing more efficient blades in 2022; its October 2024 portfolio report still listed the blade-upgrade grant in construction with status 'Development.' No completion notice or 2025-2026 turbine-by-turbine availability record was located.
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 funding and technical-program organization for the original wind project and later turbine-blade upgrade. [8][13][14]

Organization

Chaninik Wind Group

Multi-village program organization [4]

Organization

Frontier Power Systems

Designed and installed integration hardware, software, SCADA, and e+micro controls; integrated the third-party BESS in 2015. [10][11]

Organization

Intelligent Energy Systems

Alaska integrator for the wind turbines, thermal storage, load regulation, SCADA, and BESS-enabled diesel-off operation. [12][10]

Organization

Kwigillingok Power Company

Local utility and operator/grantee for the village wind-diesel system and later turbine-upgrade work. [8][13][14]

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

Technical-assistance and broader Chaninik multi-village efficiency program sponsor; multi-community savings figures are not Kwigillingok-only results. [9][15]

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
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]
Wind generation
Five Windmatic 17-S turbines at 95 kW each, 475 kW total; original case-study capacity factor 24.5% [8]
Electric thermal storage
27 units in the original case study; DOE's 2019 technical-assistance report found 20 units still installed, so the two counts describe different dates rather than a source error [8][9]
Original project cost
$3.2 million for the wind-diesel-smart-grid project in the Alaska Energy Authority case study [8]
Battery storage boundary
Lithium-ion BESS using automotive-industry cells and integrated in 2014-2015. Public sources reviewed in this pass establish its function but do not consistently publish a current usable kWh rating, cell manufacturer, or degradation status. [12][11]
Turbine blade-upgrade grant
$278,716 budget in Alaska Energy Authority's October 2024 status report; the 2022 narrative describes four sets of SERI Thin Airfoil blades for the five-turbine fleet [13][14]

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]

05

Wind turbines

Windmatic — 17-S

Five 95 kW machines. By 2019 one was inoperable; the 2022 upgrade narrative says the 1980s blade design was inefficient and not optimized for Kwigillingok's wind regime. [8][9][13]

06

Battery energy storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Automotive-derived lithium-ion batteries store surplus wind and support village-scale wind-only operation. The reviewed sources do not disclose a current battery maker, exact cell model, current usable energy, or replacement history. [12][10]

07

Microgrid controls

Frontier Power Systems — e+micro

Supervisory controls, integration hardware, software, and SCADA coordinate wind, diesel generators, the BESS, load regulation, and thermal-storage stoves. [10][11]

08

Wind-to-heat

Model not publicly disclosed

Electric thermal-storage stoves absorb excess wind energy in homes. The system-level sources do not publish individual stove ratings, manufacturers, present connected count beyond the 2019 audit, or verified household savings for Kwigillingok alone. [8][9][10]

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

    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]

  • Diesel-off operation

    Frontier says the 2015 BESS integration allowed a village in this early Alaska program to shut all diesel generators off and its project list identifies Kwigillingok as the 2014-2015 BESS site. IES explicitly says Kwigillingok can run the whole village from wind and claims diesel-off operation for at least 33% of the year. [10][11][12]

  • Performance-claim caveat

    IES claims fuel-cost savings of 50% or better, but its page gives no measurement period, baseline, diesel gallons, or independent audit. DOE's approximately 30% fuel-reduction account covers the wider Chaninik multi-village program and must not be presented as a Kwigillingok-only measured result. [12][15]

  • 2019 condition finding

    DOE technical assistance documented one unavailable turbine, fewer thermal-storage units than originally installed, and operator troubleshooting/training needs. This is evidence of partial degradation, not proof the entire microgrid had failed. [9]

  • 2022-2024 upgrade status

    AEA proposed replacing older rotor blades with SERI Thin Airfoil designs to improve production. In October 2024 the grant remained in 'Development' within the construction portfolio, so improved production should not be counted as realized. [13][14]

  • Open evidence gaps

    No verified 2025-2026 turbine availability, completed blade-upgrade notice, annual wind generation, diesel gallons, current storage state of health, usable kWh, outage indices, or independently measured savings was located. [14][12]

Provenance

15 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

  8. [8]
    Kwigillingok Wind-Diesel Smart Grid Case Study

    Alaska Energy Authority · Primary source

  9. [9]
    Technical Assistance to Improve Operations of the Kwigillingok Wind-Diesel System

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

  10. [10]
    Cranking Up the Heat: Alaska

    Frontier Power Systems · Primary source

  11. [11]
    Projects

    Frontier Power Systems · Primary source

  12. [12]
    Kwigillingok: Sustainable Peace and Quiet

    Intelligent Energy Systems · Primary source

  13. [13]
    Renewable Energy Fund Status Update, April 2022

    Alaska Energy Authority · Primary source

  14. [14]
  15. [15]

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