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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean thermal energy conversion | 2/10 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:35:54.854158+00:00 | kb-cron |
In 1974, The U.S. established the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) at Keahole Point on the Kona coast of Hawaii. Hawaii is the best US OTEC location, due to its warm surface water, access to very deep, very cold water, and high electricity costs. The laboratory has become a leading test facility for OTEC technology. In the same year, Lockheed received a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to study OTEC. This eventually led to an effort by Lockheed, the US Navy, Makai Ocean Engineering, Dillingham Construction, and other firms to build the world's first and only net-power producing OTEC plant, dubbed "Mini-OTEC" For three months in 1979, a small amount of electricity was generated. NELHA operated a 250 kW demonstration plant for six years in the 1990s. With funding from the United States Navy, a 105 kW plant at the site began supplying energy to the local power grid in 2015. A European initiative EUROCEAN - a privately funded joint venture of 9 European companies already active in offshore engineering - was active in promoting OTEC from 1979 to 1983. Initially a large scale offshore facility was studied. Later a 100 kW land based installation was studied combining land based OTEC with Desalination and Aquaculture nicknamed ODA. This was based on the results from a small scale aquaculture facility at the island of St Croix that used a deepwater supply line to feed the aquaculture basins. Also a shore based open cycle plant was investigated. The location of the case of study was the Dutch Kingdom related island Curaçao. Research related to making open-cycle OTEC a reality began earnestly in 1979 at the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) with funding from the US Department of Energy. Evaporators and suitably configured direct-contact condensers were developed and patented by SERI (see). An original design for a power-producing experiment, then called the 165-kW experiment was described by Kreith and Bharathan and as the Max Jakob Memorial Award Lecture. The initial design used two parallel axial turbines, using last stage rotors taken from large steam turbines. Later, a team led by Dr. Bharathan at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed the initial conceptual design for up-dated 210 kW open-cycle OTEC experiment (). This design integrated all components of the cycle, namely, the evaporator, condenser and the turbine into one single vacuum vessel, with the turbine mounted on top to prevent any potential for water to reach it. The vessel was made of concrete as the first process vacuum vessel of its kind. Attempts to make all components using low-cost plastic material could not be fully achieved, as some conservatism was required for the turbine and the vacuum pumps developed as the first of their kind. Later Dr. Bharathan worked with a team of engineers at the Pacific Institute for High Technology Research (PICHTR) to further pursue this design through preliminary and final stages. It was renamed the Net Power Producing Experiment (NPPE) and was constructed at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii (NELH) by PICHTR by a team led by Chief Engineer Don Evans and the project was managed by Dr. Luis Vega.
In 2002, India tested a 1 MW floating OTEC pilot plant near Tamil Nadu. The plant was ultimately unsuccessful due to a failure of the deep sea cold water pipe. Its government continues to sponsor research. In 2006, Makai Ocean Engineering was awarded a contract from the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) to investigate the potential for OTEC to produce nationally significant quantities of hydrogen in at-sea floating plants located in warm, tropical waters. Realizing the need for larger partners to actually commercialize OTEC, Makai approached Lockheed Martin to renew their previous relationship and determine if the time was ready for OTEC. And so in 2007, Lockheed Martin resumed work in OTEC and became a subcontractor to Makai to support their SBIR, which was followed by other subsequent collaborations In March 2011, Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation signed an Energy Services Agreement (ESA) with the Baha Mar resort, Nassau, Bahamas, for the world's first and largest seawater air conditioning (SWAC) system. In June 2015, the project was put on pause while the resort resolved financial and ownership issues. In August 2016, it was announced that the issues had been resolved and that the resort would open in March 2017. It is expected that the SWAC system's construction will resume at that time.
In July 2011, Makai Ocean Engineering completed the design and construction of an OTEC Heat Exchanger Test Facility at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii. The purpose of the facility is to arrive at an optimal design for OTEC heat exchangers, increasing performance and useful life while reducing cost (heat exchangers being the #1 cost driver for an OTEC plant). And in March 2013, Makai announced an award to install and operate a 105 kilowatt turbine on the OTEC Heat Exchanger Test Facility, this marked the first time that OTEC power was connected to the U.S. grid. In July 2016, the Virgin Islands Public Services Commission approved Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation's application to become a Qualified Facility. The company is thus permitted to begin negotiations with the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) pertaining to an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant on the island of St. Croix. This would be the world's first commercial OTEC plant. A project is set to be installed in the African country of São Tomé and Príncipe, which will be the first commercial-scale floating OTEC platform in the world. Developed by Global OTEC, the structure named Dominique will generate 1.5MW, with subsequent barges being installed to help supply the full demand of the country. In 2022, an MoU was signed between the government and British startup Global OTEC.