Northwest Arctic Borough seeks batteries for 3 villages, but award waits on DOE extension

The Northwest Arctic Borough asked vendors Oct. 22 to bid on battery storage systems for the village power plants in Noorvik, Kiana and Ambler. Under the solicitation, signed by Mayor Dickie Moto, the award depends on the U.S. Department of Energy's review of the borough's request for more time on the federal grant and on vendors' proposed timelines.

The grant money for the batteries runs through Dec. 31, 2027. The borough has asked the Energy Department to extend that deadline to Dec. 31, 2030. Borough records do not show whether the department has decided, and the solicitation expects a decision before any contract is signed.

Noorvik and Kiana would each get a containerized battery unit rated at least 0.75 megavolt-amperes with at least 1.5 megawatt-hours of storage. Ambler would get a smaller unit, at least 0.5 megavolt-amperes with 1 megawatt-hour. The winning vendor would design, build, test, deliver and energize each system and train local operators. Foundations, installation and grid connection fall under a separate contract.

Each battery would sit beside the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative's diesel plant and later connect to a solar array. The borough says the units must let the village grid run with the diesel generators off, carry the load when a generator trips, store solar power to cut fuel use and provide backup during blackouts. That backup would reduce shutdowns of water and sewer systems "which can freeze solid without electricity," the solicitation says.

Fuel is costly in the region. The borough's energy plan found imported fuel use fell 2.1% from 2008 to 2024, short of a 10% goal, and that stove oil costs $27.60 a gallon in Ambler, Alaska News reported Oct. 25.

Schedule

Proposals are due to the Borough Clerk by 5 pm Nov. 19. The schedule lists a notice of intent to award Nov. 25 and a signed contract Dec. 4. The Borough Assembly, which must approve any contract, next meets Nov. 24 in Kotzebue.

Funding and Award Options

The borough may award the contract for one, two or all three villages. The solicitation sets no budget. If every bid exceeds available funding, the borough says it may negotiate with the three lowest qualified bidders, re-advertise a changed project or add money.

Federal spending records show the Energy Department's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations award to the borough was signed Nov. 18, 2024, with about $54.8 million obligated so far and about $1.13 million spent. It covers solar, battery and heat pump projects in 11 villages.

Ingemar Mathiasson, the borough's energy manager and the solicitation's contract manager, wrote in a Sept. 8 report in the Assembly's September packet that the borough has "shortfalls in the OCED budget and at this time do not have enough funding to complete the Solar PV build out and Heat pumps for all communities." He gave no dollar figure for the shortfall.

He proposed covering the gap with incoming federal tax credit refunds, including an adjusted credit of about $514,000 for Noatak. The solicitation also plans to claim a clean electricity investment tax credit for each battery.

Selawik's project is furthest along. Selawik's 1-megawatt-hour battery reached the village by July. But the cooperative drew no proposals for the power line and power plant work needed there, which will delay connecting the solar array and battery, planned for 2026, possibly to spring or summer 2027, a project summary in the packet says.

Before any battery can start up, the cooperative must replace switchgear, install a new microgrid controller and add an electric boiler at each plant. In Ambler, cooperative equipment bought under a separate award of about $2.83 million did not meet federal Buy America rules and had to be reordered, pushing that work into 2027 and 2028.

Delivery Timeline

The delivery plan runs past the grant's current deadline. Noorvik's battery is scheduled for factory testing in spring 2027, barge delivery that summer and startup in the village that fall. Kiana and Ambler would follow a year later. Alaska Marine Lines barges directly to Noorvik and Kiana but not to Ambler, 138 miles northeast of Kotzebue. Ambler's equipment would be staged in Kotzebue and carried upriver.

Ownership and Heat Pumps

Ambler already has heat pumps in every home, and the borough expects Noorvik and Kiana to add them to many homes. The borough will own the batteries and may later hand them to a village tribe acting as an independent power producer that sells power to the cooperative. Records do not say whether any tribe has agreed.