Emerson helps Alaska's wind farm provide affordable clean energy

Emerson’s modernization of Golden Valley Electric Association’s Eva Creek wind farm automation technology and software increases the reliability of low-cost, clean energy generation for customers in northern Alaska. Photo Credit: GVEA.

Emerson today announced the completion of a digital transformation project to increase the reliability of clean energy generation at Golden Valley Electric Association’s (GVEA) Eva Creek wind farm. The project improves the management of Alaska’s largest wind farm. 

Rural Alaskan communities are on the front line of climate change, given the region’s extreme weather. As the largest electric utility serving northern Alaska, GVEA and its Eva Creek wind farm supply nearly 25MW of reliable, low-cost electricity to customers, while reducing fossil fuel usage.

Emerson’s sustainable grid solutions have delivered fast results, increasing the reliability of GVEA’s wind turbines and contributing to a 65% reduction in operations and maintenance costs.

“Emerson is a key collaborator in our goal to increase access to clean energy for our customers in northern Alaska,” said Frank Perkins, GVEA vice president of power supply. “Our investment in a common automation platform helps us efficiently incorporate more renewable energy and minimize our carbon footprint.” 

Emerson’s solutions simplify management of the Eva Creek wind farm and provide more accurate equipment diagnostics and analytics for forecasting and dispatch. The end-to-end solution incorporates Emerson’s Ovation automation platform and OSI monarch software to expertly help utilities achieve a more resilient, responsible and smarter power grid. 

“Increased visibility into Eva Creek operations enables GVEA to further safeguard the reliable operation of this critical source of renewable energy for northern Alaska,” said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson’s power and water solutions business. “With Emerson’s comprehensive portfolio of sustainable grid solutions, GVEA is well positioned to optimize operations across its entire power system, from generation to meter.” 

Emerson has been ranked as the leading distributed control systems provider for the global power generation industry, according to Omdia.