Project overview
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Fire Island Wind LLC is developing a commercial-scale wind farm on Fire Island, three miles west of Anchorage. The first 11-turbine project phase will have a 17.6 megawatt (MW) generation capacity and is expected to supply 51,000 MW-hours of power to Chugach Electric Association annually.
- Project will be completed and producing power in late 2012
- Generate electricity to power 6,000 Southcentral Alaska households, offset approximately 0.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas consumption for power generation and supply about 4 percent of Chugach Electric Association's load
- The first phase of the project is expected to cost about $65 million for generation and other on-island infrastructure, plus the cost of new transmission infrastructure
- Fire Island Wind expects the project will qualify for close to $19 million in America Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (ARRA) Section 1603 investment tax credit grant funding plus another $25 million of state grant funding for submarine and mainland transmission infrastructure
- All grant funds will offset project costs and reduce cost of power to ratepayers. Chugach Electric Association will own and operate the submarine and mainland transmission infrastructure
Fire Island Wind LLC will build additional project phases if additional buyers want to purchase wind power. The full project could include up to 33 turbines with 52.8 MW total generation capacity, enough to generate approximately 144,000 MW-hours of power annually.
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Customers
Chugach Electric Association has agreed to purchase up to 17.6 MW of power at a flat net price of $97/MW-hour for 25 years beginning Jan. 1, 2013. The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) approved the power purchase agreement on Oct. 10, 2011, and Fire Island Wind is now proceeding with project financing and construction.
Chugach is Alaska's largest electric utility and is setting an example for other Railbelt utilities by moving away from overdependence on natural gas. Its Fire Island wind power purchase agreement will improve Railbelt electric grid reliability and power price stability by incorporating clean, renewable wind energy into Southcentral Alaska's power portfolio.
The proposed wind power price is higher than today's average price of Cook Inlet generated power. However, it is cheaper than some of the power generated and used in the region today and will become increasingly attractive throughout the contract term as gas and power prices trend upward.
CIRI, an Alaska Native Corporation