UK-based pioneer in ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) development, Global OTEC, has installed a floating prototype offshore Spain designed to produce electricity by using the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep ocean water. It is said to be the first purpose-built offshore platform of its kind.
The prototype floating platform has been installed at Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), which is said to provide access to deep ocean water close to shore, allowing engineers to validate system performance and environmental impact under realistic operating conditions.
As part of the project, the vertical seawater intake riser has been deployed and connected, the installation of which is widely considered the most complex step in establishing an offshore OTEC system, Global OTEC reported.
“This is the moment where OTEC moves away from controlled environments into the real world,” said Dan Grech, Founder and CEO of Global OTEC. “Conventional onshore intake systems, while great resources for aquaculture and testing equipment, are low-capacity and expensive. Offshore, OTEC can scale in a modular approach that transitions OTEC from being a niche technology to a powerful resource. We now have a new class of standardised and replicable baseload power on a learning curve akin to wind, solar, and batteries.”
The prototype is part of a €3.5 million project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe initiative, awarded to a pan-European consortium led by Global OTEC in 2022. The full program has advanced offshore OTEC platforms through desktop simulations, tank testing, and now full-scale ocean deployment.
With offshore validation now underway, the UK firm said its next step is to bring the first OTEC Power Module to Hawaii.
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