Our solution has three main building blocks. The foundation block is an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) platform. OTEC is proven technology that uses the temperature differential between cold deep ocean water and warm surface water to power a turbine. In this way, it is like a combination of solar and wind energy – where the ocean is used as a solar battery and a turbine is used to generate electricity. However, unlike solar and wind, OTEC operates continuously, making it ideal for baseload energy needs with no need for costly battery storage.
Our OTEC platforms can be situated on land, near shore, or as an offshore floating spar. Energy output can scale from 5MW up to 100MW using a multi-stage process and increasing number of power heads. Key processes are designed to be remotely monitored so the platform itself can be unmanned. The exact configuration will depend on the client’s energy needs, available land, and business model. Our solution can generate carbon-free electricity or other bio-fuels such as hydrogen or ammonia.
One of the main reasons that OTEC is not more widespread is that upfront capital costs cannot be easily justified by ongoing kilowatt hour (kWh) energy savings. This has led to a vicious cycle where OTEC has not benefitted from the economies of scale cost reductions enjoyed by other renewables (eg >80% reduction over ten years).
“OTEC is an energy production process that has high growth potential and could aid the economic development of tropical and industrialised nations, while also reducing carbon dioxide emissions.”
International Energy Agency 2021
For this reason our solution includes two additional building blocks in addition to energy generation. Both of them allow costs to be shared across multiple benefit streams, thus making the overall business case positive. The second block is desalinated deep ocean water from reverse osmosis. As the Earth’s weather patterns become more unpredictable, access to potable water is becoming more critical. This water can be used not only for bottled drinking water – it has applications for agriculture, aquaculture, high-tech manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, breweries, and commercial laundries.
The third building block is minerals extraction. Deep ocean water is a source for precious elements, including many of those listed by the US Geological Survey on the 2022 Final List of Critical Minerals, indicating they are essential towards national security. As electronics and electrification become more widespread, the pressures of land-based mining become more and more evident. The Seacosystems mineral extraction process is integrated with the desalination process as part of the OTEC discharge.
In addition to these three components, we have identified other “plug-ins” that can be integrated with the core Seacosystems solution. These additional uses of the deep ocean water are relevant to tourism, data center/bitcoin mining, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. Using existing cases as a baseline, we estimate each Seacosystems solution to generate over 3,000 jobs and over $1B in economic value to the local community.
