Coeur Alaska’s Kensington Mine will switch to using hydropower after the Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Facility is operational.
With a mine located 45 miles north-northwest of Juneau in the Tongass National Forest, Coeur Alaska is one of the planned customers of the hydroelectric facility. The gold mine is currently powered by onsite diesel generators, but is expected to transition to primarily renewable base-load energy to power its operations.
Coeur Mining is a U.S.-based precious metals producer with five wholly-owned operations: the Las Chispas silver-gold mine in Sonora, Mexico, the Palmarejo gold-silver complex in Chihuahua, Mexico, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, and the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota. In addition, the company wholly owns the Silvertip polymetallic critical minerals exploration project in British Columbia.
Ameresco, an energy solutions provider, announced its partnership with Juneau Hydropower, Inc., a recently Licensed Utility, to develop, construct and operate a 19.8-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric facility at Sweetheart Lake, 33 miles south of downtown Juneau and its transmission and distribution assets.
The Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Facility is designed to generate an average of 116,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually, providing a 20% increase in baseload clean hydropower over Juneau’s current electrical generation. The project scope also covers the installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS), over 40 miles of high-voltage transmission infrastructure — including eight miles of undersea cable that will cross Gilbert Bay — and an interconnection substation with the existing Snettisham Transmission line adding energy security to Alaska’s capital city.
The hydroelectric dam is expected to offset 82,012 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. It will deliver reliable, renewable baseload electricity through a process that does not burn fossil fuels.
This utility will connect underserved, remote areas that have previously relied solely on diesel generation to a reliable, renewable energy source. The project is anticipated to increase overall energy transmission in the state by 3%.
“This project is the catalyst for Juneau’s sustained growth and prosperity, and we’ve used over 40 years of hydrological data to design hydropower operational parameters so that we can reliably produce energy in even the driest of years,” said Duff Mitchell, Managing Director, Juneau Hydropower, in a statement. “By harnessing the power of Alaska’s waters, we’re investing in a future where unprecedented events can be weathered with confidence.”