Technical Readiness of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)

As the lead licensing agency for OTEC, NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), in cooperation with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), held the first in a series of workshops to determine the technical readiness of seven major components of OTEC: 1) cold water pipe; (2) heat exchangers; (3) platform/pipe interface; (4) platform; (5) power cable; (6) platform mooring system; and (7) pumps and turbines. The first workshop, discussed in this report, sought to gather information on the technical readiness of OTEC and evaluate advancements to the technology since the last major attempt, OTEC-1 in 1980.