Alaska Energy Authority Zeroes in on Susitna River for Hydropower Project

The Alaska Energy Authority, which was vested with the task of zeroing in on a viable hydropower project, chose the Susitna River to formulate a multi-billion dollar hydropower generation plant.

Earlier, the authorities received $10 million for identifying viable hydropower projects and focused on the proposals to develop Chakachamma Lake and the Susitna River projects.

The published decision document indicates that the Susitna River project was chosen despite  the fact that it would cost the government 50% over and above the cost of constructing the Chakachamna project. The Chakachamna project estimated to cost around $2.8 billion was rejected on the grounds of its steep terrain location, delayed permission process due to environmental impact and required scaling down of the project size to protect salmon. The conducted review on both the projects resolved that the Susitna River project with an investment of around $4.5 billion will generate at least two to three times extra power at a lower level of production cost than the Chakachamna project. The Susitna Project with a proposed capacity of around 600 MW is anticipated to generate around 2,600 gWh of electricity at a cost of 6.3 cents per kWh. The AEA is currently reviewing the comments of the public on the proposals and has plans to have a number of public meetings to discuss the Railbelt Large Hydro Project in February. The required field studies for the project are planned for  the next year to enable making applications to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing procedures. On completing all the required licensing procedures, the Susitna Project could become functional in a period of 11 years.

Sean Parnell, the Governor of Alaska, who supports the project said that it is essential to invest in a large level hydro power project to harvest the low cost electric power needed for the Interior and the Railbelt areas and to achieve the state’s aim of producing half of the power generated in Alaska utilizing renewable energy by the year 2025.