Kotzebue Channel Marine Energy Resource Assessment

Researchers from the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC) and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) conducted an oceanographic study in the channel offshore Kotzebue during the summers of 2023 and 2024. The purpose of the study was a marine hydrokinetic energy (MHK) resource assessment to understand if nearshore ocean currents at this location are fast enough to be a source of renewable energy. This study was requested by the local utility, Kotzebue Electric Association (KEA), who aims to increase renewable energy production during barge season (June-October) at this site, if possible. Both years, a mooring with oceanographic instruments was deployed on the seafloor in the channel for at least two months. The UAF mooring was located mid-channel in State of Alaska (SoA) waters at 66.9096° N, 162.5729° W in 2023, and in the City Tidelands at 66.89908° N, 162.60445° W in 2024. An upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measured current speeds (m/s) and direction (°) throughout the water column. A conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) sensor recorded salinity (PSU), water temperature (°C), and depth (m) at the seafloor. We faced some challenges and damaged instruments as a result of sedimentation and debris in this channel formed by freshwater discharge from the Noatak, Kobuk and Selawik Rivers. Nearshore current speeds in the Kotzebue channel ranged from 0-1.75 m/s, alternating in magnitude and flow direction towards the northeast (NE) or southwest (SW), as would be expected in this tidal system that is highly influenced by freshwater river discharge. Water velocities were higher closer to the surface, and stronger in the down-channel direction to the SW. The mooring site in 2023 was shallower than the 2024 City Tidelands site, where the channel was narrower. ADCP data represent 10 minute averages calculated in 0.5 m depth increments throughout the whole water column. This study did not evaluate potential environmental or social impacts or community response to marine energy development in Kotzebue. These would need to be addressed prior to any MHK development in Kotzebue because the channel is of key importance to the community for transportation and subsistence.