2 - Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

Abstract

Closed cycle ocean thermal energy conversion is technically feasible at the present time for small power sizes. Turbines and the cold water pipe need scaled-up application engineering for use in large ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) units. However, other types of cycles, including open and diphasic cycles, are possible and the competition between various techniques is wide open. Anticipated escalations in electricity cost from oil, gas, coal, or nuclear plants means that the first generation of commercial OTEC power plants is competitive within approximately ten years. The potential application of OTEC power in integrated ocean industrial complexes needs to be studied in details but as a renewable and non-polluting form of solar energy, OTEC can in the long run have an influence on the energy scenarios on a scale so far inconceivable, especially for those countries that have no or very little conventional energy resources. Oceanographic and geo-economical surveys aiming at the identification and in-depth study of precise OTEC potential sites and adjacent regions still remain to be done for most of the tropical countries and should also be given a high degree of priority in all the forthcoming development programs.