The Kotzebue wind farm

 

The inhabitants of Kotzebue are not doing it for a long time. But just outside the regional hub of the Northwest Arctic Slope, just above the polar circle, they have established one of the biggest wind farms in the arctic region. Thirteen direct drive wind turbines of 100 kW each provide almost ten percent of all electricity in Kotzebue.

How and when Inupiaq people are looking at renewable energy sources? Are there similarities and differences between this part of Alaska and the affluent societies of Europe? In which ways the often hostile arctic environment is influencing their positioning of renewable energy sources?

And what Europeans can learn from how Inupiaq shareholders are dealing with wind energy?