SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAINING (SIT) RESEARCH PAPER

AN INVESTIGATION OF HYDROPOWER-BASED MICROGRID INTEGRATION AS A SOLUTION TO INDIGENOUS ENERGY ISSUES IN GREENLAND (2023)

Renewable technology development is one of the world's most viable and necessary pathways towards a net-zero carbon status. This paper explores the development of microgrids for their potential to deliver cheaper, more accessible, and cleaner electricity to indigenous communities in Greenland who are at heightened risk of climate-change related weather disasters. Microgrids are small, local electrical grids that can be used independently to supply energy or connect into a larger network to supply more customers and prevent blackouts.

This research paper investigates how microgrids influence Indigenous Greenlandic communities’ energy accessibility and performance when powered by renewable energy. To answer this question, this paper:

1) holistically analyzed Greenland’s energy sector by looking at historical

development, energy grid evolution, and implementation of renewable energy technologies

(RETs);

2) provided a solutions-based approach to rectifying identified gaps in Greenland’s energy sector

through the implementation of microgrid hardware into communities with a proven lack of

energy availability; 

3) reviewed how these potential microgrid implementations would impact existing

electricity/power infrastructure in these communities, encourage further development of RET

applications into both Greenlandic communities and those in other remote areas of the world,

and mitigate effects (present and future) of anthropogenic climate change activity on Earth’s

hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere.

In order to accomplish these goals, this paper looked at peer-reviewed articles, publications, and

projections to create a theoretical framework for a new type of renewable energy infrastructure. Based off environmental case studies performed under similar economic and environmental constraints, it also drew conclusions based off the metrics and available data performed under these conditions, encouraging further exploration of the study’s findings.