Excerpt and Photo from www.renewableenergymagazine.com
As the world converges for COP28, a side event has shed light on Ocean Energy for Small Island Developing States. Hosted on the December 6 at the Alliance of Small Island States pavilion, in Dubai, the session had its focus on the blue and green economy aspirations of SIDS, with a special highlight for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.
Harnessing the SIDS’ main natural resource, the ocean, OTEC technology will have its first commercial implementation in São Tomé and Príncipe, Africa, by 2025. Designed by British startup Global OTEC, the project can half diesel costs.
“This is a remarkable change in fortunes from the status quo of expensive and dirty fossil fuel imports. As we have concluded that the first-of-a-kind would produce electricity for a considerably lower unit cost than diesel, we also know it will fall dramatically as we scale up and deliver bigger and more ambitious projects”, says Global OTEC Founder and CEO Dan Grech.
Facing several challenges for power generation through fossil fuels, SIDS are now claiming more investment in OTEC. Representatives of Tonga, Dominica, Seychelles, Tuvalu and Barbados made references to Ocean Energy and OTEC in their remarks. Countries such as Bermuda, Palau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas and Grenada also attended the session.
