Remote Communities

Remote Communities

Over 700 million people worldwide live in remote communities with no access to traditional energy infrastructure, relying on diesel fuel to generate electricity. Diesel must be shipped, trucked, or flown in to these communities, resulting in electricity costs up to 15 times the cost of power from a traditional utility grid. This method of electricity generation is expensive and environmentally risky due to the potential for fuel spills during transit, delivery and storage, as well as exposure to harmful emissions.

Since 2013, ORPC has partnered with the Village of Igiugig, Alaska, to lower energy costs by utilizing renewable energy generated by the powerful Kvichak River. The Kvichak River is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon population, on which many villagers rely for their subsistence and livelihood.

In 2014, ORPC successfully built, deployed, and operated its RivGen® Power System, delivering electricity to Igiugig’s diesel microgrid. In 2015, ORPC re-installed and operated the RivGen system in Igiugig to demonstrate its latest technology advancements and, in the process, reduced the community's diesel fuel use by one-third when the system was operating.

In May 2019, the Igiugig Village Council was issued a 10-year pilot project license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to construct, operate and maintain the Igiugig Hydrokinetic Project. Igiugig is the first tribal entity in the U.S. to achieve this approval, moving the rural community closer to using diesel fuel for emergency-backup only.

In July 2019, the Village of Igiugig and ORPC celebrated the launch of ORPC’s commercial RivGen Power System, combining its patented underwater power system with smart grid electronics and energy storage. In the fall, the first of two RivGen devices was installed in the Kvichak River to operate year-round. Installation of a smart microgrid system and energy storage are planned for 2020, and a second RivGen device will be installed in the Kvichak River in 2021 to provide sustainable, baseload power to the community.