Study of ocean thermal energy resources in Para’baya, West Sulawesi

Abstract

Ocean thermal is one of the renewable energy resources. In 1981, a design of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) pilot power plant was proven could produce electricity. The performance of OTEC depends on the possible temperature differences of the warm and cold seawater, at least 20°C. In the coastal of Para’baya, this requirement can be satisfied since the distance to reach the 1000 m depth is less than 10,000 m from the shore. The result of ocean thermal power calculation in Makassar Strait shows that Para’baya could produce higher power than any other place in west coast of Sulawesi, with an average power output of 120.35 kW. This ocean thermal study, in the coast of Para’baya, used sea surface temperatures (SST) data from the result of Long-term Indonesian Throughflow Model Simulation (LITHMOS) over 24 years (1982 – 2006), and sea temperature data at 1000 m depth from the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) 2009. The result shows that ocean thermal energy distributions in the Makassar Strait were affected by the combination of gust, wind direction, and sun position which varies in each season. Maximum ocean thermal power is reached during the first transitional season (March, April, May) with output power of 128 kW, and the minimum power is achieved during the dry season (June, July, August) with an output power of 114 kW.