From The Associated Press, Friday, September 17, 2010:
A University of Alaska group will receive $3 million to study options to optimize wind-diesel hybrid energy systems in rural Alaska.The Alaska Center for Energy and Power, based at UA Fairbanks, was awarded the grant by the federal Department of Energy.
The university says Alaska already has systems pairing wind turbines with diesel power plants but many are not performing as designed due to extreme weather and remote, distributed grid systems.
Research paid for by the grant will investigate technical issues related to power stability, long-term energy storage and control systems to better use fluctuating wind power.
Research also will investigate turbine performance in cold climates and remote locations and challenges such as icing, foundations in poor soils and remote monitoring.