Ocean thermal energy conversion

Abstract The offshore industry is being dominated by the increasing need for energy resources, especially for oil and gas. During the last few years, however, new options for energy out at sea have been introduced. Of all the new ocean energy sources, OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) seems to offer the best medium term prospects. Floating pilot units with capacities of the order of 10 to 40 MW will be in operation by 1985, according to present development plans. In large portions of the tropical oceans, considerable temperature differences exist between the surface water (27°C) and the deep water layers (6°C) at depths of from 600 to 1000 m. In OTEC power plants, electricity will be produced by utilizing this temperature difference in a Rankine cycle. The surface of the tropical seas acts not only as the solar collector, but also as a huge heat reservoir.