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Makai’s OTEC plant forms part of its OTEC heat exchanger test facility and marine
corrosion lab, named Ocean Energy Research Center (OERC), located at the NELHA site,
which was opened in 2011 following the award of a fund by the US Navy in 2009.
The OREC is capable of testing six heat exchangers simultaneously and also conducts
research programmes on seawater air-conditioning (SWAC), corrosion prevention and
heat exchangers for other marine applications.
The research and development works at OERC were funded by the Office of Naval
Research (ONR) through the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI), whereas the
funding for the OTEC plant’s infrastructure was provided by Naval Facilities Engineering
Command (NAVFAC).
The US Navy’s special engagement in the research centre is driven by its target of
generating 50% of its shore-based energy from renewable sources by 2020. The heat
exchanger research facility is necessary as their components are estimated to make up
approximately one-third of the overall cost in developing a commercial OTEC plant,
primarily suited for offshore locations.
As of 2014, the research centre completed the test of seven heat exchangers that are
constructed of either aluminium or titanium. The US Navy awarded Makai a contract to
add a turbine generator to complete the power plant and test the working of OTEC
technology on the grid, in 2013.
Makai’s OTEC plant is a closed-cycle facility that uses an ammonia fluid to drive the
turbine-generator. The two new heat exchangers and the 100kW ammonia turbine-
generator were delivered to the project site in late 2014. The turbine generator was
placed on top of the 40ft-high OTEC tower within the same year and the testing works
for the two heat exchangers started subsequently.
The deep seawater is obtained using either a 40in diameter intake pipeline or a 55in
diameter pipeline. The pipes can supply up to 26,000gal a minute of cold seawater,
equivalent to the warm surface water pumped for the facility each minute.
The two heat exchangers have a 2MW thermal duty each, are between two and eight
metres tall, and have a typical design seawater flow of 0.25m³ a second (4,000gal a
minute). They were supplied by Lockheed Martin and are the first to use friction stir
welding, a technique that reduces ocean corrosion.
HOW THE OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY PRODUCED?
1. COST
At present, government subsidies are required to make OTEC energy
economically viable. Electricity can be produced at about $0.07 per
kilowatt-hour, as opposed to subsidized wind power systems that can
produce energy for as low as $0.05 per kilowatt-hour. Moreover, OTEC
requires expensive, large-diameter pipes submerged about a mile below
the ocean's surface. Many of the countries within the viable geographical
belt (between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn) lack the
economic resources to build this infrastructure.
2. POLITICAL CONCERN
Because OTEC facilities are stationary surface platforms, they are
essentially considered artificial islands and, therefore, their exact
location affects their legal status under the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea treaty (UNCLOS). According to UNCLOS, coastal nations
are given 3-, 12- and 200-mile zones of varying legal authority. The
amount of political autonomy among these zones varies greatly.
Consequently, jurisdictional conflicts could arise based on international
boundary disputes between nations.