Pilgrim's Progress: An Update on Geothermal Potential in Alaska (EERE/GTO)
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"Steaming Pilgrim Lagoon, Fall Colors and Kiqluiak Mountains" - Dick Benoit
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A resource in central Alaska is showing promise for geothermal development—the renewable energy that draws on Earth’s natural heat for electricity and other uses. The
myriad benefits of this clean, domestic power source make geothermal exploration an attractive proposition for this state, where off-grid demand means that Alaskans often use expensive, polluting diesel power. Today, progress at an Energy Department investment on Native American lands is generating a lot of excitement for geothermal power, turning up enough heat resource to meet the electricity needs of surrounding communities and industries.
At
Pilgrim Hot Springs, 50 miles northeast of Nome, the
Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) has found a sufficient geothermal resource from exploration drilling to tap geothermal energy for a spectrum of uses, including on-site power generation. In fact, experts consider the resource at Pilgrim to be the largest identified geothermal resource on the Seward Peninsula. Developments there could also potentially allow the native community to develop the geothermal resource in order to relocate at Pilgrim. To conduct this exploration work, ACEP partnered with the Energy Department’s
Geothermal Technologies Office.
