Single-wire Earth Return - Rural Electrification in Alaska

Rural Electrification in Alaska

In 1981 a high-power 8.5 mile prototype SWER line was successfully installed from a Diesel plant in Bethel to Napakiak in Alaska, United States. It operates at 80 kV, and was originally installed on special lightweight fiberglass poles that formed an A-frame. Since then, the A frames have been removed and standard wooden power poles were installed. The A-framed poles could be carried on lightweight snow machines, and could be installed with hand tools on permafrost without extensive digging. Erection of “anchoring” poles still required heavy machinery, but the cost savings were dramatic.

Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States estimate that a network of such lines, combined with coastal wind turbines, could substantially reduce rural Alaska’s dependence on increasingly expensive diesel fuel for power generation. Alaska’s state economic energy screening survey advocated further study of this option to use more of the state’s underutilized power sources.