Deep Ocean Power Philippines (DOPP), a subsidiary of US based Deep Ocean Power has been granted 36 permits by the department of energy (DOE) to explore possible sites in the Philippines that can be harnessed for ocean thermal energy conversion.
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is different from wave energy as it uses heat difference as opposed to the latters use of tidal motion and moving currents. The principle of Ocean thermal energy works by using a heat engine (usually using a refrigerant fluid) that will harness the energy from the temperature difference between the hotter surface waters of the ocean versus the cooler deeper waters.
According to this map from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Philippines is an ideal location to install OTEC because of the prevalence of huge temperature differences between the ocean surface to a depth of about 1000m of water. The eastern part of the Philippines is the best location with the abundance of locations with temperature differences greater than 24C being found. Of course what it fails to mention is that the eastern part of the Visayas is also the entry point of most typhoons entering the country. DOPP would be wise to take that into account when designing their facility considering that the Philippines experiences about 20+ typhoons a year.
According to the DOE the area applied by DOPP covers about 21,450 hectares and is found near the general areas of Laoag, Zambales, Mindoro, Isabela, Panay, Negros and the island of Mindanao. The submitted design proposal of the company consists of a land-based power plant with its pumping station located in the ocean.
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Category: Clean Energy, Ocean Thermal
