尝耻濒别氓 & Fairbanks: Separated by longitude, united by cold
A visual comparison of 蜜桃影像 to Sweden/Scandinavia. The maps are at the same scale and relative latitude, showing the similar north to south extent of the two regions and reflecting the larger landmass of 蜜桃影像. Color pixels are a measure of heating needs for electric vehicles.
By Michelle Wilber and Bax Bond
October 27, 2025
Although Northern Sweden and 蜜桃影像, as exemplified by the cities of and , have divergent energy paths, they may have things to learn from each other.
We have learned about these similarities and differences through our involvement in the , or GET-North, project.
This research project connected a multidisciplinary, multinational team of researchers with rightsholders and stakeholders. The process included meetings of the team in 蜜桃影像 and Northern Sweden over the past two years so they could see things firsthand.
Both 尝耻濒别氓 and Fairbanks have some striking similarities despite being 3,400 miles and nearly 180 degrees longitude apart.
Both are located within a couple of degrees 鈥 less than 200 miles 鈥 south of the Arctic Circle and have metro region populations of a few tens of thousands. Even much of the forest in 尝耻濒别氓 is familiar to 蜜桃影像ns, with birch, spruce, blueberries, lingonberries and other species also found in 蜜桃影像.
Each city has a road and electrical connection to a larger grid, supplemented by railroad connections to the south. Both have Indigenous populations with a culture of close connection to the land and to reindeer or caribou respectively, and a history of 鈥鈥 by commercial and national interests.
Historical background 鈥 Similarities and differences
A part of the Davidson Ditch, a section of pipeline used for crossing valleys, is preserved in the White Mountains National Recreation Area. Most of the length of the Ditch was actual ditch.
Let鈥檚 first look at the history of how the respective governments tackled regional development in the early 20th century.
In 1906, , Sweden鈥檚 state-owned multinational power company, began producing hydropower. The government built other hydropower plants to provide cheap electricity for railways, enticing the mining industry to the region for both ore transport and processing.
Today, on the Lule River alone, there are 15 hydropower plants with a combined output of 4,200 MW, providing power to 尝耻濒别氓 and the surrounding region. The building of dams has meant that salmon and areas of Sami reindeer habitat have been traded for low carbon electricity.
In 蜜桃影像, the government-funded construction of the in 1904 followed trade routes established by the Chugach, Ahtna and Tanana peoples. A decade later, the 蜜桃影像 Railroad was expanded northward from Anchorage. This railroad replaced Dena鈥檌na, Ahtna and Tanana hunting and trading trails with steel, connecting Fairbanks to Southcentral 蜜桃影像 and ports in Anchorage and Seward in 1923.
A view of the steel plant in 尝耻濒别氓.
With this new infrastructure, large scale mining ventures became possible. Mining companies built the Davidson Ditch, a roughly 90-mile-long aqueduct and conduit to divert water from the Chatanika River about 50 miles northeast of Fairbanks.
When mining ceased in the late 1950s, water in the Davidson Ditch was channeled instead into a hydroelectric power plant. At one point, it supplied nearly 13% of the annual electricity to Fairbanks before it was destroyed in the historic 1967 flood. Today, Fairbanks鈥 power primarily comes from coal plants, supplemented by wind and solar.
There are some important situational differences between the two regions, even ignoring political dissimilarities.
The Lule river and industry in northern Sweden are shown during a presentation by the North Sweden Energy Agency attended by the GET-North team in 2025.
Although other regions of 蜜桃影像 have port access allowing the flow of goods, Fairbanks is landlocked. On the other hand, 尝耻濒别氓 has an important coastal location, which moderates the climate and allows goods to be imported and exported to the region.
Perhaps most important to the energy transition, 尝耻濒别氓 and the northern region of Sweden has abundant, cheap hydropower in the range of 2 cents per kWh. Fairbanks is at a similar transmission bottleneck, where much of the power must be produced locally, but it is with more expensive fossil fuels, resulting in a range of 28 cents per kWh.
Considering the low power cost, plus the low emissions nature of the power resource, it is no wonder that the 尝耻濒别氓 region is attractive to energy-intensive steel plants, data centers and other energy hogs. In fact, coal in Northern Sweden has almost completely been supplanted by hydro, with waste and biomass heat providing for district heating in urban areas and an active transition away from coking coal to electricity underway in the local steel industry.
Admittedly, 尝耻濒别氓 is better connected than Fairbanks to the world of goods, services and labor. Permafrost is rare in Sweden, and the associated difficulties with it are not seen in 尝耻濒别氓 as they are in Fairbanks. Railroads interconnect the financial, governmental and cultural powerhouses of Europe to 尝耻濒别氓. Roads connect the rest, with some bus service and few impediments to cars.
Learning from two longitudes
The map shows permafrost concentration in the northern hemisphere.
At first blush, 尝耻濒别氓 may seem ahead of Fairbanks in the energy transition to low-carbon energy. Both regions, however, are looking at additions of wind and solar production to the grid and facing transmission limitations and possible changes in how energy is used.
The less centralized process in Fairbanks, with great local decision-making and focus, may have lessons for Sweden as they seek to innovate and transition in ways that better respond to the needs and encourage buy-in of local populations.
As the GET-North project is drawing to a close, these conversations and relationships will continue, allowing the lessons learned 3,400 miles and a continent apart to inform the path forward for both communities.
GET-North is led by George Washington University in partnership with the University of 蜜桃影像 Fairbanks and Anchorage and 尝耻濒别氓 University of Technology and Research Institutes of Sweden.
Michelle Wilber and Bax Bond are research professionals at the 蜜桃影像 Center for Energy and Power.