Project Overview

Tribe/Awardee
Gwitchyaa Zhee Gwich'in Tribe/Gwitchyaa Zhee Gwich'in Tribal Government

Location
Fort Yukon, AK

Project Title
Gwich'in Solar Energy Efficiency in the Artic

Type of Application
Deployment

DOE Grant Number
DE-EE0006478

Project Amounts
DOE: $124,735
Awardee: $127,578
Total: $252,313

Project Status
See project status

Project Period of Performance
Start: July 2014
End: September 2015

Summary

It is the mission statement of the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich'in Tribal Government (GZGTG) to promote economic and social development. The tribe strives to achieve this goal for its people and for its staff members, and this project will support those goals by installing energy efficiency measures and a renewable energy system.

Under this project, the tribe will increase the insulation value of the GZGTG Tribal Hall, replace all tube lighting throughout the building with high-efficiency LED lighting, install a solar array on the tribal hall, and install a smaller solar array on the tribe's greenhouse.

Project Description

Background

There are no roads connecting the rural community of Fort Yukon to the rest of Alaska, so all of the energy, material, and food come in either by barge traffic in the summer months or by air traffic, which is provided year round. The community has a 5,810-ft. gravel runway and is serviced daily by four different airline carriers. The community is just north of the Arctic Circle, so it is a popular destination for tourists visiting Alaska. The city of Fort Yukon was established in 1959 and operates many of the vital services for the community, including the road and airport maintenance and the local water system. The community's location and access to important services means that Fort Yukon has long played an important leadership role for the people of the Yukon Flats.

The Gwichyaa Zhee (translated means "House on the Flats") Gwich'in Tribal Government, formerly the Native Village of Fort Yukon, was established under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1939 and continues to serve the approximately 500 residents of the community through a variety of federal, state, and privately funded programs.

Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC), the traditional tribal consortium of the 42 villages of Interior Alaska, is based on a belief in tribal self-determination and the need for regional Native unity. The history of the TCC reflects the importance of balancing the traditional Native values with the modern demands facing indigenous peoples. TCC is a nonprofit organization that works toward meeting the health and social service challenges for more than 10,000 Alaska Natives spread across a region of 235,000 square miles in interior Alaska. TCC's membership comprises Native governments from 42 interior Alaska communities.

Project Objectives

Fort Yukon's extreme temperatures make living in the community a challenge. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the state was recorded in 1915 at 100°F in Fort Yukon, and until the 1970s the community also had the lowest record in the state at -78°F. Nearly each year, temperature swings of 155°F occur (-65°F to 90°F is fairly common). These massive temperature swings and 16,000 annual heating degree days, make the community a difficult place to achieve energy independence. However, tribal independence and self-sufficiency are paramount to the community's leadership, as evidenced by GZGTG's mission statement:

"Exercise governmental authority to promote economic and social development, advocate and secure tribal rights, to secure tribal lands, to enhance educational opportunities and to protect traditional cultural values with a unified voice on behalf of tribal members."

The objectives of this project include the following:

  • To reduce the GZGTG's dependence on imported diesel fuel to run tribal operations and services
  • To lower operating costs and improve the economic sustainability of the GZGTG
  • To serve as a model of sustainability for our youth and our surrounding communities, so that they may follow where we have led.

Project Scope

The project is simple in scope and well within the capacity of the GZGTG Housing Authority to complete. The efficiency measures were selected because they are simple retrofits that the tribe's housing department can accomplish with existing skill sets. The focus was on minimal costs with maximum gains. The combined 21.75-kilowatt (kW) solar arrays were selected because the tribe has been interested in building its skills to install solar photovoltaics (PV) on other homes in the community, and the TCC Energy Department has unique expertise relevant to installing solar PV at a community level. It is a renewable energy technology that the tribal housing department has all of the current capacity to install, with some additional guidance from trained professionals.

The specific goals of the project are to:

  • Act as a model of sustainability and tribal resilience for surrounding communities in the Yukon Flats who are also struggling with high energy costs.
  • Increase the insulation value of the tribal building from its current R-21 to the proposed R-81.
  • Install baffles in the eaves to allow airflow and prevent ice dams.
  • Blow in R-60 across the 7,000-sq.-ft. tribal hall to reduce heat transfer out of the building during Fort Yukon's sub-zero winters.
  • Replace all tube lighting throughout the building with high-efficiency LED lighting for reduced energy consumption and increased light output.
  • Install an 18,000-watt solar array wired to the tribal council building's main electrical service to offset energy use year round.
  • Install a 3.75-kW solar array with battery backup wired into the tribe's greenhouse to offset energy use.

Project Location

The community of Fort Yukon lies approximately 145 air miles northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, the region's main transportation and medical hub. The community sits at the confluence of the Porcupine and Yukon Rivers in the heart of an area known as the Yukon Flats, one of the largest wetlands and bird migration corridors in the country and home to the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.

The GZGTG office building is located in Fort Yukon, Alaska. Both the building and the surrounding property are owned by the tribal government in Fort Yukon. This building is the tribe's largest energy consumer, and the building that is used the most by the tribe. Evidence of tribal ownership is included in the Site and Resource Maps Appendix.

Project Status

This project is complete. For details, see the final report.

The project was competitively selected under the Tribal Energy Program's fiscal year 2013 funding opportunity announcement "Tribal Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Deployment Assistance" (DE-FOA-0000853) and started in July 2014.

The March 2014May 2015, and December 2016 project status report provides more information.