Video Documentary:
Hydrokinetic Power for a Remote Alaskan Community

Igiugig, Alaska

turbine
Igiugig is a remote community in the southwest corner of Alaska, accessible only by airplane. It is located where Lake Iliamna flows into the Kvichak River. Electricity is very expensive, since they depend upon diesel generators, and all diesel must be flow in. This community has been looking for an alternative, working with The Alaska Center for Energy and Power (University of Alaska - Fairbanks), and has been chosen to host a hydrokinetic pilot project. Hydrokinetic means a turbine which is sunk below the surface of moving water - without a dam.

Ocean Resource Power Company (ORPC) is a company out of Portland, Maine, which build these types of turbine. This spring they are shipping a turbine to Igiugig, where they are planning to install it for the summer.

Last year I ( Tim Smith) wrote an article about the environmental effects of these turbines. The article was published in Natural History Magazine. Since then ORPC contacted me about documenting the project in Igiugig.

Igiugig is at the heart of Alaskan salmon country and depends upon the health of the fishing industry. So of great concern will the interaction between the turbine and the salmon run.

Interested? Contact me at: Timothy.P.Smith@Dartmouth.edu