The Government of Palau has submitted early this month a proposal to secure funding from the United States Trade and Development Agency for a feasibility study on an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion electricity and fresh water production facility.

OTEC facility is estimated to cost around $250 million, excluding $500,000 needed for the feasibility study alone.

Part of ROP’s commitment to reduce its economic dependence on foreign oil, President Remengesau also said preservation of Palau’s pristine environment is paramount.

Accordingly, OTEC is ideal from an environmental perspective since it has essentially a zero carbon footprint and has no toxic waste steams.

The proposal is for a feasibility study similar to the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program that the US Navy is currently negotiating for the development of a commercial scale OTEC facility at the US Naval Base in 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.

President Remengesau submitted the proposal 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.

The feasibility study would also validate the optimal scale of the facility based on the current and future requirements of Palau for these three of-take streams.

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,” Remengesau said.

The President said that as a result, 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 U.S.

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.

Based on the proposal, ROP intends to restrict the competitive bidding for the project to United States firms.

Source: Marianas Variety  

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