Top objectives of new state office offers benefits for Alaska’s mining industry.

Alaska's mining sector stands to benefit from a new Office of Energy Innovation established by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in two ways – policies and investments that support low-cost and low-carbon sources of energy to power mines, and the development of a strong critical minerals mining program in the state.

"Alaskans need energy supplies that are stable and secure," said Akis Gialopsos, acting commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. "A coordinated effort under Governor Dunleavy's Office is a tremendous step forward that focuses agencies' efforts on Alaska becoming a leader in both carbon capture, utilization, and storage and building the critical minerals of this state and nation."

Established under Administrative Order No. 34, signed by Dunleavy on Sept. 30, the Office of Energy Innovation has five primary objectives:

• Develop policies that enable Alaska to capitalize on its vast energy potential to lower the cost of energy and enhance the stability of energy delivered to Alaskans.

• Coordinate efforts to provide a variety of innovative tools and resources to deliver safe, sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy for Alaska.

• Collaborate with public and private institutions to develop pragmatic, market-driven solutions that enable innovative energy production, including nuclear and renewable energy sources.

• Assist communities in accessing innovative technology and necessary funding to secure low-cost, reliable energy.

• Support efforts that enhance Alaska's role in a national clean energy future through the development of a strong and responsible critical minerals mining program and the investment in emerging energy technologies.

"Alaska is an energy giant in all its forms. We'll continue to be an oil and gas giant, but we are all in for every form of energy – wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal, micronuclear, and hydrogen. The Office of Energy Innovation will coordinate this pursuit of sustainable, dependable, and affordable energy," said Dunleavy.

All-of-the-above strategy

Dunleavy began outlining an all-of-the-above energy strategy at the first Alaska Sustainable Energy conference put on by his administration in May.

"This isn't about an either, or, this is about an all-in approach on energy sources," the Alaska governor said at the beginning of the three-day event that boasted roughly 90 speakers and nearly 500 attendees.

A strategy to leverage Alaska's abundant natural gas to serve as a bridge to some mix of tidal, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen, and micronuclear to power the state's energy needs began to come to light during the event.

"Alaska has got everything we need to lead, not just this country but in many respects the world," Dunleavy said during opening remarks at ArcticX, a one-day Arctic energy summit hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy that segued to the Alaska Sustainable Energy conference.

Further coverage of the Alaska Sustainable Energy conference can be read at Alaska sustainable energy key for mining in the June 3, 2022 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

The importance of DOE hosting an energy summit in Anchorage and having a presence during the three-day Alaska Sustainable Energy conference that followed cannot be overstated.

Especially since DOE holds the purse strings to more than $375 billion of federal clean energy funding made available by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflations Reduction Act.

"Safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy is critical to Alaska's economic and social viability," said John Burns, president of Golden Valley Electric Association, the electrical provider at the north end of Alaska's Railbelt. "The Office of Energy Innovation will ensure focused coordination and collaboration amongst all stakeholders to leverage and maximize Alaska's abundant natural resources and state and federal funding opportunities to positively transform Alaska's energy future."

Matanuska Electric Association CEO Tony Izzo added, "MEA is united with the other interconnected Railbelt utilities in our commitment to work with the Governor, legislature and other stakeholders to be a catalyst for a secure, clean and diverse energy mix that can drive economic growth and a vibrant Alaska."

A nuclear option

Alaska is also at the forefront of nuclear microreactors that could provide silent, clean, and low-cost energy to communities, mines, and other industrial power users that are not connected to the Alaska Railbelt grid.

The Pentagon selected the U.S. Air Force's Eielson Base just outside Fairbanks, Alaska, to pilot a 5-megawatt-electrical eVinci microreactor developed by Westinghouse Electric that is ideally suited for remote Alaska applications.

Each 5 MW unit can be delivered in four shipping containers that were purposefully designed to be easily and quickly delivered to remote locations such as northern mines and communities and installed in buildings similar to those that house the diesel generators that are a staple for delivering electricity across the North.

These units are delivered with enough fuel to run eight years at full capacity, and much like batteries, the reactor units are simply swapped out for a recharged one when the specialized self-encapsulated fuel is depleted.

This is expected to be an ideal low-cost solution for remote arctic and subarctic regions, where cold and dark winters make other forms of zero-carbon energy, such as solar and wind, unfeasible.

Westinghouse's eVinci microreactor, on the other hand, runs more efficiently in cold weather.

At the same time, each microreactor pumps out thermal energy that can be captured by a heat exchanger to warm buildings or production processes. This essentially free byproduct of the clean and low-cost electricity being delivered by eVinci would be very useful during the winter months across the North.

Further details on the eVinci microreactor and its potential application across the North can be read at A nuclear option for mines in the North in the May 6, 2022 edition of North of 60 Mining News.

On Sept. 26, the Air Force released a request for proposals from parties interested in building and operating the microreactor that will be licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Westinghouse Electric

A Westinghouse microreactor demonstration unit that is a precursor to the eVinci unit to be piloted at the Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska.

"Microreactors and modular nuclear reactors are fast approaching market readiness, and with the planned project at Eielson AFB in 2027 Alaska is poised to be an early adopter of this emerging technology," said University of Alaska Fairbanks Vice Chancellor Gwen Holdmann. "I am excited to see the Dunleavy administration pull together numerous ongoing and independent activities related to energy planning that impact the future of Alaska."

Alaska's Office of Energy Innovation was established upon the Sept. 30 signing of the administrative order and is utilizing existing personnel and resources within Gov. Dunleavy's office.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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