Global OTEC Steps Closer to First Commercial OTEC Platform

Where OTEC Works

UK-based company Global OTEC has secured a certificate of approval for a cold-water riser installation for its first commercial-scale ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) platform.

The first certificate of authorization for the methodology of installing a cool-water riser marks an essential milestone in creating its first OTEC system, according to Global OTEC. The organization explained that this validates an important part of the design process, using standards already evaluated and applied to the oil and petrol market for implementation in OTEC deployments.

The marine warrantee surveyor company, ABL Group, issued the certificate, and has been in effect since April 4, 2023. This approval is particularly important given the technical challenges faced by OTEC installations, and the long history of OTEC’s unsuccessful implementations, Global OTEC noted.

“History is an important teacher, and we are committed to learning from it. Failure of previous OTEC projects highlights where we should exercise caution, so third-party technical due diligence from the earliest stage is important for our success,” said Dan Grech, Global OTEC’s founder and CEO.

Global OTEC has designed the first commercial-scale OTEC system, the 1.5MW floating platform Dominique. Set to be installed in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2025, the platform is expected to be an example to the world of how diesel fuel imports can be replaced with clean energy from the ocean. Generating power from the temperature difference naturally present across the tropical area of the ocean, OTEC uses warm surface seawater to evaporate a fluid, which produces a vapor that spins a turbine.

Cold water from deep in the ocean is then used to cool the vapor and condense it back into a liquid so the cycle can continue all year round.

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Originally Published in Offshore Energy Today, April 18, 2023, by Amir Garanovic.
Global OTEC steps closer to first commercial OTEC platform – Offshore Energy (offshore-energy.biz)

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Global OTEC Resources is a United Kingdom (UK)- based company, founded by Dan Grech. In 2015, Dan worked as a marketing manager for a well-known luxury fashion company. One evening, watching a rerun of Frozen Planet, Dan had a cliché epiphany moment that prompted him to leave his job immediately and join the global efforts in reversing the climate crisis. Dan started Global OTEC in 2017, and used his experience in building teams with exceptional people and setting big visions to launch the company. Dan recruited the founding team and has been the main driver of business development and partnerships. Global OTEC Resources has raised significant amounts of financing in the forms of grants and angel investments, and is now collaborating with small islands on multi-million-dollar low carbon investments to facilitate the wide deployment of OTEC Floating Power Plants across small islands.

SIDS DOCK is a United Nations (UN)-recognised international organisation established in 2015, with all the rights and privileges for addressing climate change, resilience, and energy security in small islands. SIDS DOCK represents 32 small islands and low-lying developing states across the globe, and is so named because it is designed as a “DOCKing station,” to connect the energy sector in SIDS with the global markets for finance and sustainable energy technologies. The organisation’s work is coordinated by the Secretariat, in Belmopan, Belize.

 

  Contacts:

Dan Grech, Director
Global OTEC Resources Ltd. dan.grech@globalotec.co

Christine Neves Duncan, Project DirectorSecretariat of SIDS DOCK secretariat@sidsdock.org
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