USDA funding supports Alaskan district heating project
April 13, 2023
BY Erin Krueger
The USDA on April 11 awarded the city of Nenana, Alaska, a $605,521 grant to support a biomass-fueled district heating system. The grant was awarded under the agency’s Rural Energy Pilot Program, which supports community-driven solutions to address higher energy costs and pollution through renewable energy systems, including wind, solar, and other technologies like geothermal, micro-hydroelectric and biomass/bioenergy.
The grant to Nenana was made as part of a $6.6 million investment in four projects under the Rural Energy Pilot Program. The USDA said the four projects will help people in rural towns develop community-sized renewable energy projects that will help them lower their energy costs and create jobs.
The $605,521 awarded to the city of Nenana will help the town purchase a woodchipper with conveyors for the city’s biomass district, which includes a school, a recreation center and a fire station.
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The Nenana biomass district heating project has also received past funding from the U.S. Forest Service, including a $167,745 award made in May 2021 to support the installation of a biomass boiler and a $689,110 award in May 2022 to support development of the district heating system. Both Forest Service awards were made under the agency’s Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Grant Program.
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