How the Arctic Remote Energy Network Academy helps promote clean energy in the North

For decades Canadian Arctic communities have depended on diesel to generate electricity. Now they are serious about developing clean energy projects to reduce costs and carbon emissions. The Arctic Remote Energy Network Academy (ARENA) gives people who spearhead those projects -- known as energy champions -- opportunities to learn from the experiences of others in the field. Through visits to clean energy projects, presentations, and laboratory demonstrations, ARENA participants get hands-on learning experiences, and connect with mentors and project development leaders around the circumpolar north. POLAR is a co-leader of this program.

ARENA's 2022-2023 session included participants from Alaska, Greenland, Finland, and Canada. In 2022 they visited clean energy projects in Alaska (wind energy and storage) and Iceland (geothermal and hydro), and the Yukon, Canada (solar, wind, and biomass) in January 2023.

Over the seven-day Yukon program the energy champions travelled to Whitehorse, Old Crow, and Teslin. They met representatives from First Nations, the Yukon and federal governments, industry, and communities, who shared their experiences of the renewable energy scene in the Yukon -- including community engagement, community energy planning and initial development, adding renewable energy to local power grids, renewable energy planning at the territorial scale, and much more.

In the fly-in community of Old Crow the group visited the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation's off-grid solar array, the largest north of the Arctic Circle. They learned how the community overcame the technical and policy challenges of integrating solar energy into the existing power grid -- including how they negotiated an agreement to sell solar energy to the local power utility. Energy champions can benefit from this knowledge when they face similar challenges at home, and negotiate their own community agreements with power utilities.

At Teslin, an on-grid community accessible by road, the group saw the district heating system, which is fueled by wood-chips made from local trees, and learned about the community's long term forestry and energy management plans.

The session was rich with opportunities to meet new colleagues, meet community members and learn about local cultures, and enjoy Yukon landscapes -- including a dogsled excursion. The variety of experiences and connections made for a successful session that the participants found very useful. For Rachel Mandel, senior clean energy engineer at the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, a highlight was visiting many projects -- both successful and unsuccessful -- in different Arctic communities. "We gained insight into not only the unifying characteristics across the regions, but also the richness and diversity of Northern ingenuity," says Mandel. "Connecting with people across the North who share a passion and drive to improve energy security and resiliency was inspiring. I'm returning from ARENA with many ideas for my own projects, and a real sense of community."