(WO) – STAK Energy Corp. and ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc. have signed a 15-year gas sale agreement to supply natural gas to a new power plant on Alaska’s North Slope. The deal completes a process that began with a gas sale precedent agreement in January, and it opens a new commercial outlet for North Slope gas that has long lacked a route to market.
The gas will supply enough fuel to generate nearly 3 GW of power at Project Aaka, STAK’s planned campus in an established North Slope industrial corridor with year-round road and airport access. The campus will run entirely off-grid on high-efficiency gas turbines, and the company said it expects no impact on Alaska’s public electric grid or ratepayers. It will power advanced computing applications and is also expected to lower energy costs for nearby North Slope infrastructure.
Project Aaka is targeting first power in 2030, with phased expansion through 2032. STAK said the gas sale agreement and power project are expected to generate new state and local tax revenue.
“For fifty years, the North Slope has produced gas without a way to put it to work at scale,” said Sparrow Mahoney, founder and CEO of STAK Energy. “Today, that changes.”
The agreement adds to a growing list of efforts to monetize North Slope gas, including the Alaska LNG project. The USGS recently estimated 96 Tcf of undiscovered gas on the North Slope, nearly three times the region’s proven reserves.
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