**Title**: Energy in the North - Tim Kalke
**Date**: September 11, 2024
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Tim Kalke


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[Tim Kalke] To have an opportunity to have good employment, meaningful, purposeful employment that's here in your community

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[Amanda Byrd] This week on Energy in the North, we traveled to the community of Galena, 270 miles west of Fairbanks, where I talked to Tim Kalke of Sustainable Energy, Galena, Alaska, or SEGA. SEGA's new renewable energy projects are looking to move the community towards using less imported diesel fuel. In 2013, the community experienced a devastating flood that impacted all of the 450 residents, where many communities in the same situation may have struggled in the rebuilding effort. The devastating event actually brought the community closer. One of the results was a creation of SEGA. This collaboration between the Loudon Tribe, the city of Galena and the Galena City School District was created in support of the initial project - a biomass energy project to replace the diesel heating fuel.

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[Tim Kalke] The concept there was to install a wood heating system for the GILA - Galena Interior Learning Academy district heating system and to use locally procured fuel source.  So the heat system upgrades and all of that, where the wood displaces approximately 200,000 gallons. Since 2015, we have displaced nearly 1 million gallons of imported diesel fuel and generated eight key employment positions within the organization.

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[Amanda Byrd]
So then when I arrived yesterday, you took me by the solar farm. Tell me about that. 

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[Tim Kalke] Well,our pilot project that we went and looked at yesterday is a 50 KW and the final product, we hope by the end of May 2025 will be a 1.5 megawatt array. So what we looked at there was 128 of the panels that will be out in that field. Yeah. And it'll be accompanied by a one megawatt hour battery system with a one megawatt inverter. So really adding to the resiliency and the security of the energy system for the community. And SEGA will play that role of an independent power producer - or serve - the word I use to serve that role. And I use that very specifically because SEGA won't own the asset like a traditional IPP, that would be the tribe's asset, but will be contracted to manage, operate and maintain the operability of it. So we're really excited to bring that contribution to the community as well.

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[Amanda Byrd] 1.5 megawatts is a really big solar farm in remote Alaska.

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[Tim Kalke] It's a it's a project that exemplifies the collaborative nature and the partnership aspect of Galena. Galena has been successful in many of the endeavors that we've taken on, SEGA has been able to harness a workforce and bring a an administrative capacity to help manage, operate and maintain the array. That dollar value that revenue stays in the community and can be turned around and provided to as either indirect or direct benefits to the community. So we're really excited about that.

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[Amanda] It must mean so much for the young people to have their own sustainable energy and jobs.

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[Tim Kalke] Well, I think I think we're starting to see the benefits with the employment opportunities on a variety of levels, whether it's people being interested in working the administrative parts and or, joining the workforce as an introductory laborer, but to have an opportunity to have good employment, meaningful, purposeful employment that's here in your community to where you can then turn around and start to learn the ropes, start to set up your own homes, or take your take care of your families and your elders and things like that. You know, to support those kinds of values is incredible, very important to this whole process.

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[Amanda Byrd] Tim Kalke is the general manager at Sustainable Energy Galena, Alaska. I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for the Alaska Center for Energy and Power at ÐÔÓûÉç. Find more stories, including this one at uaf.edu/acep.