Clean energy solutions for Arctic communities: Energy Champions gather to share expertise
Photos: Rob Cooke, Rachel Mandel and Amber Polson, Polar Knowledge Canada
During this one-week training in Yukon, participants shared their expertise and experience with integrating renewable energy resources into remote Arctic communities.
Northern and Arctic regions are among the most unique ecosystems in the world. Threats from climate change have also made them some of the most fragile. Indigenous Peoples are actively pursuing clean energy solutions to adapt to these rapid and concerning changes. In January 2023, the Arctic Remote Energy Networks Academy (ARENA) program brought together energy professionals from the Circumpolar North. The program took place in 2022 and 2023, with on-site components in the United States (Alaska), Canada, and Iceland. The Canadian on-site component was hosted in Yukon from January 14 to 22, 2023.
To learn more about the ARENA program, watch: 2023 ARENA Canada.
The ARENA program is all about gathering energy champions from remote communities across the North and giving them the skills, knowledge, mentorship and networks needed to make a change in their own communities. Let's follow the participants throughout this exciting week.
Day 1: Former chief of the Ta'an Kwäch'än, Ruth Massie, welcomed ARENA participants at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün and Ta'an Kwäch'än First Nations. The first day of training focused on renewable energy initiatives that highlighted Arctic ingenuity in some of the most extreme climates on Earth.
Day 2: Chief Pauline Frost and Deputy Chief Debra-Leigh Reti welcomed ARENA participants to Old Crow, Yukon, home of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. They toured the largest off-grid solar array north of the Arctic Circle and discussed the community's vision and leadership for transitioning off diesel while also building economic opportunities.
Day 3: The participants attended a presentation by Old Crow's utility provider on integrating renewable energy into remote off-grid communities. In the afternoon, the group hopped in sleds and was taken upriver to T'loo Klut, a culturally significant site for the Vuntut Gwitchin where they enjoyed lunch and a brief presentation about its history.
Day 4: Back in Whitehorse, a series of presentations looked at community-scale wind projects—another viable, clean energy solution in remote regions. The participants then put down their notebooks to spend time with Whitehorse-based long-distance dog musher Rob Cooke from Polar Knowledge Canada. Rob spoke about his life with dogs and participating in the challenging, dangerous, and exciting race across the Arctic called the Yukon Quest.
Rob Cooke has been the Canadian technical lead for ARENA since its inception in 2015. He shared his thoughts about ARENA:
"The ARENA program is probably the most meaningful activity I have taken part in throughout my career. Helping empower champions from remote Arctic communities so that they can make very real differences in their communities is exceptionally rewarding, both emotionally and professionally. Also, seeing the passion and drive in ARENA participants, in the communities we have visited, and the experts that we have brought together gives a great deal of hope that together we can overcome the existential threat that climate change poses, particularly in the North."
Photo credit: Mark Gillet
Day 5: John Streicker, Yukon Minister for Energy, Mines and Resources, talked with ARENA participants about Yukon's clean energy future during their last day at the cultural centre. Andrew Hall, Yukon Energy CEO, joined Minister Streicker to discuss clean energy solutions, including the Whitehorse Hydro Dam, built in 1958. The dam and its diesel generators currently produce enough power to light up more than 1 million 40-watt light bulbs.
Day 6: ARENA participants headed up the Alaska Highway to the Village of Teslin, home to the Teslin Tlingit First Nation, and energy champion Blair Hogan. Participants heard about the community's long-term forestry and energy management plans and the district's heating biomass system, both providing viable, clean energy alternatives to diesel fuel. Community workers proudly discussed forestry and energy management system operations and maintenance and what these systems mean to their community.
Devlin Fernandes, Executive Director of Gwich'in Council International, underlines that Arctic communities are at the forefront of innovation: "Gwich'in Council International is pleased to co-lead this project. Energy is connected to economies, housing, food security, health, self-sufficiency, and sovereignty. We need ways to address high energy costs, lack of infrastructure and dependence on diesel. Arctic communities are at the forefront of climate change but also at the forefront of innovation, and ARENA aims to share and apply this expertise."
Photo credit: Gwich’in Council International
Day 7: After 7 amazing days, the participants, while sad to leave, also celebrated their time together. They updated each other on their own energy projects and the lessons learned, and took away important knowledge and friendships that will stand the test of time and distance.