Analysis of the environmental issues concerning the deployment of an OTEC power plant in Martinique

Environmental Science and Pollution Research International
Damien A Devault, Anne Péné-Annette

Abstract

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) is a form of power generation, which exploits the temperature difference between warm surface seawater and cold deep seawater. Suitable conditions for OTEC occur in deep warm seas, especially the Caribbean, the Red Sea and parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. The continuous power provided by this renewable power source makes a useful contribution to a renewable energy mix because of the intermittence of the other major renewable power sources, i.e. solar or wind power. Industrial-scale OTEC power plants have simply not been built. However, recent innovations and greater political awareness of power transition to renewable energy sources have strengthened the support for such power plants and, after preliminary studies in the Reunion Island (Indian Ocean), the Martinique Island (West Indies) has been selected for the development of the first full-size OTEC power plant in the world, to be a showcase for testing and demonstration. An OTEC plant, even if the energy produced is cheap, calls for high initial capital investment. However, this technology is of interest mainly in tropical areas where funding is limited. The cost of innovations to create an operational OTEC plant has to be amortized, an...Continue Reading

References

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Mar 10, 2015·The Science of the Total Environment·Alfonso Balmori

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Citations

Oct 30, 2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Graciela RiveraEdgar Mendoza

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