Juneau Hydropower Inc. has entered into an agreement with the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority to buy a two-acre lot of land in downtown Juneau where the company plans to build North America’s first seawater heat pump district heating facility.

The plant would work by drawing cold seawater from the Gastineau Channel, then run that water through a heat pump that essentially extracts heat from the water and distributes the heat to buildings in downtown Juneau.

The Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska, uses a similar system to heat its building, but the Juneau facility hopes to power all of downtown.

“This is going to change the heating economics of downtown,” said Duff Mitchell, managing director of Juneau Hydropower and Juneau District Heating. “We’re working on the renaissance of Juneau.”

More details here.

Source: JuneauEmpire.com