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Tuntutuliak, Kongiginak, Kwigillingok Microgrids

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations11
System facts36
Sources reviewed17
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

This grouped record covers three electrically separate southwest-Alaska village systems—Kongiganak (often misspelled Kongiginak), Kwigillingok and Tuntutuliak—developed through the Chaninik Wind Group. Each completed system combined five roughly 95 kW Windmatic 17-S turbines (about 475 kW/village), diesel generation, supervisory control, smart meters and dispatchable electric-thermal-storage heaters. Kongiganak later added a 250 kW lithium-ion battery/ABB inverter and demonstrated multi-day diesel-off operation; that battery must not be assigned to all three villages.

Research status
DOE reported the three systems complete by 2013; its program metrics were about 30% power-plant fuel reduction and at least 30% heating-fuel reduction in participating homes. Alaska Energy Authority's October 2024 portfolio still labels Tuntutuliak's 475 kW project operational, while separate Kongiganak/Kwigillingok turbine upgrades remained in development and a 2025 advocacy list sought US$4.8 million for upgrades across all three. Thus the original systems are operating as last confirmed, with upgrade projects not yet evidenced as commissioned.
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
500 kW
Coordinates
59.87234, -163.16583
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 Tuntutuliak, Kongiginak, Kwigillingok Microgrids?

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

Organization

Alaska Energy Authority

State Renewable Energy Fund administrator and current status/upgrade reporter. [13][14]

Organization

Chaninik Wind Group

Nonprofit multi-village project organization and DOE award recipient. [8][11]

Organization

Frontier Power Systems

Wind-diesel SCADA, controls and integration provider. [12][11]

Organization

Intelligent Energy Systems

Wind-diesel integration and project technical contributor [7][5]

Organization

Intelligent Energy Systems (IES)

Technical integrator and developer of Kongiganak's advanced battery/diesel-off controls. [15][10]

Organization

U.S. Department of Energy Tribal Energy Program

US$750,000 funder/technical sponsor; tribal governments contributed US$1.25 million in DOE accounting. [9][11]

Organization

United Tribal Government of Kipnuk

Program member; the 2013 DOE account says its power-plant construction remained pending [4]

Organization

United Tribal Government of Kongiganak

Participating tribal government [3][4]

Organization

United Tribal Government of Kwigillingok

Participating tribal government [3][4]

Organization

United Tribal Government of Tuntutuliak

Participating tribal government [3][4]

Organization

United Tribal Governments/utilities of Kongiganak, Kwigillingok and Tuntutuliak

Owners/hosts of separate village utilities and co-investors; Kipnuk is a fourth group member but outside this record's completed three-village title. [9][10]

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
1500 [1]
Wind generation per completed village
Five approximately 95 kW Windmatic turbines (about 475 kW per village) [5][3]
Completed project scope
Kongiganak, Kwigillingok, and Tuntutuliak completed by 2013; Kipnuk remained pending in the cited account [4]
Wind penetration
Installed wind capacity exceeded 200% of peak load in each completed village [4][5]
Smart meters
Program plan covered approximately 500 homes [3]
Thermal-storage rollout
Program plan covered 90 homes; individual systems were designed for roughly 21–30 homes [3]
DOE investment
$750,000, with $1.25 million from the participating tribal governments in the DOE success-story accounting [4]
Program fuel-displacement goal
200,000 gallons of diesel across electricity and heating uses [4]
Wind per original completed village
Five Windmatic 17-S turbines, about 95 kW each/475 kW total. Early DOE plans rounded each to 90 kW. [8][10]
Penetration
Installed wind exceeded 200% of village peak load. This is a nameplate-to-peak ratio, not annual renewable share. [10]
Kongiganak-only storage
250 kW lithium-ion battery coupled to an ABB PCS100 inverter; public reporting does not state energy capacity (kWh), so duration cannot be calculated. [16]
Thermal storage
Program plan targeted 90 homes/roughly 21–30 heaters per village plus about 500 smart meters. Exact installed counts vary by village and report date. [8][11]
Measured/reported performance
Program-level about 30% diesel reduction; Kongiganak separately reported up to 50% annual/36,000 gallons fuel displacement and 65.3% electric-generation diesel displacement in January 2019, including seven consecutive diesel-off days. [9][15][16]
Energy mix
Wind, diesel and surplus-wind electric heat; Kongiganak adds short-duration battery support. No synchronized current annual mix for all three villages is published. [9][16]

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 roughly 95 kW machines in each of the three completed village systems; DOE's early project page rounded the unit rating to 90 kW. [5][3]

02

Microgrid controls

Frontier Power Systems

Wind-diesel supervisory control, SCADA, load regulation, and integration services; the grouped sources span multiple installation years, so one controller hardware revision is not assigned to all villages. [7][1]

03

Smart metering

Model not publicly disclosed

Advanced meters distinguish discounted surplus-wind energy from diesel-generated electricity and communicate availability to residential controls. [3][6]

04

Electric thermal storage

Model not publicly disclosed

Networked residential stoves capture surplus wind as heat; unit counts vary by community and report date, and commercial heater models are not disclosed. [3][4]

05

Heat-recovery boilers

Model not publicly disclosed

Community heating assets also help balance the high-penetration systems; boiler manufacturers and ratings are not stated in the reviewed DOE page. [5]

06

Wind turbines

Windmatic — 17-S

Five approximately 95 kW machines per village in the original three systems. [10][13]

07

Microgrid control

Frontier Power Systems / IES

Village-specific SCADA, load regulator, supervisory wind-diesel control and radio/meter communications; controller revisions differ by site. [12][11]

08

Smart meters and ETS

Model not publicly disclosed

Meters signal surplus-wind pricing/availability to networked ceramic electric thermal-storage heaters; commercial heater models are not disclosed. [8][11]

09

Kongiganak battery inverter

ABB — PCS100

250 kW lithium-ion battery power system; cell maker and energy rating not reported. [16]

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.

  • Management

    SCADA computer [1]

  • Storage

    20 Electric Thermal Storage (ETS) stoves [1]

  • Generation

    5 Windmatic 95kW wind turbines [1]

  • Generation

    Diesel Generators [1]

  • Network boundary

    The communities are not connected by road or electrical intertie; each village operates its own diesel microgrid under a shared program design. [5]

  • Control communications

    Advanced meters, the power-plant supervisory controller, and thermal-stove controllers exchange surplus-wind availability and customer-use data. [3]

  • Energy pricing

    The smart-meter architecture enabled surplus wind sold as residential heat at approximately half the cost of diesel heating in the DOE project design. [3][4]

  • Reported outcome

    DOE reported about 30% power-plant fuel reduction and at least 30% heating-fuel reduction for participating ETS homes across the operating systems; these are program-level figures. [4]

  • Specification reconciliation

    DOE's planning page states 90 kW per turbine, while later completion reporting identifies 95 kW units; the page labels the time basis rather than blending the ratings. [3][5]

  • Network boundary

    No roads or electrical interties connect the villages; shared program design and maintenance capacity do not make them one network. [10]

  • Surplus-wind control

    Powerhouse controller, smart meters and heater controls exchange availability/data so wind above electric load becomes discounted residential heat instead of curtailment. [8][11]

  • Diesel-off evolution

    Kongiganak's later battery and controls permit diesel shutdown during strong wind; no equivalent storage/diesel-off evidence was found for Kwigillingok or Tuntutuliak. [16]

  • Upgrade boundary

    AEA lists Tuntutuliak original wind operational but Kongiganak and Kwigillingok airfoil/turbine upgrades in development in 2024; the three-village US$4.8 million upgrade package remained shovel-ready in 2025. [14][17]

Provenance

17 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]
    www.bullfrogpower.com

    bullfrogpower.com · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  3. [3]
    Chaninik Wind Group — 2010 Project

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

  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Chaninik Wind Group Pursues Innovative Solutions to Native Alaska Energy Challenges

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

  6. [6]
    Chaninik Wind Group Wind Heat Smart Grids Final Report

    Chaninik Wind Group / U.S. Department of Energy · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Alaska wind-diesel-heat projects

    Frontier Power Systems · Primary source

  8. [8]
    Chaninik Wind Group — 2010 Project

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

  9. [9]
  10. [10]
  11. [11]
    Chaninik Wind Group Wind Heat Smart Grids Final Report

    Chaninik Wind Group / U.S. DOE · Primary source

  12. [12]
    Alaska wind-diesel-heat projects

    Frontier Power Systems · Primary source

  13. [13]
    Kwigillingok Wind-Diesel Smart Grid

    Alaska Energy Authority · Primary source

  14. [14]
  15. [15]
    Kongiganak

    Intelligent Energy Systems · Primary source

  16. [16]
  17. [17]
    Shovel-Ready Energy Infrastructure Projects in Alaska

    Renewable Energy Alaska Project · Secondary research

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