Cogeneration

Golden Valley coop buying power from University of Alaska Fairbanks CHP plant

Golden Valley coop buying power from University of Alaska Fairbanks CHP plant
(Illustration courtesy of Babcock & Wilcox)

An Alaskan electric cooperative has agreed to buy power from the near university’s combined heat and power (CHP) plant.

The Golden Valley Electric Association announced this week that it had signed a deal earlier with the University Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). State regulators approved the one-year power purchase agreement.

GVEA can purchase power generated at UAF’s 17-MW CHP campus plant once all of the school’s energy needs are met. The cooperative can also generate its own power capacity, but the deal allows some flexibility when it’s more economical to purchase power.

Golden Valley serves more than 36,000 members in the Alaskan interior. Its other PPA deal include agreements from the Aurora Energy and Healy coal-fired plants, wind from Eva Creek and Alaska Environmental Power, hydropower from Bradley Lake plant and diesel and solar elsewhere.

The UAF CHP plant was completed and operational in 2018. The coal-fired unit uses circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology and is adapted to run some biomass if needed for the future.

Babcock & Wilcox designed and manufacturing the CFB boiler and air quality control equipment for the campus CHP plant. It replaced a boiler first built and operated in 1964.