A Source (Of Energy) For Garcia

Abstract

The U.S. Navy maintains a remote installation on the island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean. This facility uses more than 65 MWh of electricity and 350 M-gal of water annually. Reliability and costs of electricity supply and fresh water quality were concerns of the Navy in 1996. Prospective contractors were invited to submit proposals for provision of these services with some encouragement to use renewable energy resources. As a capstone design project, three teams of 1 st -class midshipmen (seniors majoring in ocean engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy) set about to identify and design an ocean energy system to compete, at least conceptually, with Navy contractors. These teams explored various renewable energy sources such as ocean thermal, wave, and offshore wind energy. In four-months time, each team researched the alternatives and developed a concept design for its selected energy source. Results were presented to a Review Panel consisting of Navy representatives and ocean engineering professionals. Brief details of this capstone experience and educational opportunities in renewable ocean energies at the U.S. Naval Academy are shared later in the paper. Past developments and recent trends in renewable energy from ocean sources are this paper’s principal focus. For example, France currently maintains the most significant ocean energy recovery plant - a 240-MW tidal power facility at La Rance. And, Denmark’s “Energy 21” Plan calls for development of 4 GW of offshore wind power by the year 2030, sufficient to meet more than 25% of that nation’s anticipated consumption of electricity.