by Larry Smith (contributed by Doug Cotton)
The US-associated Palau Islands (south of the Philippines) want the United States Trade and Development Agency to finance a feasibility study for an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion electricity and fresh water production facility.
The OTEC facility is estimated to cost around $250 million. The government said it was pursuing OTEC technology because it has a zero carbon footprint with no toxic waste streams.
The proposal is for a feasibility study similar to a programme that the US Navy is currently negotiating for the development of a commercial scale OTEC facility at its naval base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
It would provide site-specific engineering analysis as well as the optimal scaling of the facility to meet the current and future needs of Palau. The proposal was submitted to the USTDA on Feb. 8.
The feasibility study would validate the suitability of various sites on Palau for an onshore OTEC facility, with sophisticated bathymeric analysis to optimize the facility’s access to both warm surface ocean water as well as cold ocean water from approximately 1,000 meters below the ocean surface.
OTEC technology uses the resulting temperature differential to generate electrical power, fresh water and chilled water air conditioning. Further analysis will determine the relative volume production for each product stream based on the economic tradeoffs among power water and air conditioning production.
“Because of our nation’s remote location, producing electrical power has none of the economies of scale that continental “grids’ can achieve,” President Remengesau said. The cost of electricity in Palau is over 35 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is over eight times the average cost of production in the US.
He said that such amplified economics make renewable energy an economically rational choice in Palau long before such technology can compete with oil and coal in continental economies.
“Thus, the commitment of Palau to pursue this project is based on compelling economic necessity,” the President said.
The President said that the intention is to competitively privatize the development and on-going operation of the OTEC facility, rather than attempt to do so through state agencies.
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