On September 9th, the Asia Clean Energy Summit in combination with the International OTEC Symposium and the Islands & Isolated Communities Congress was opened with a inspiring and passionate keynote from Neil Abercrombie, Governor of the State of Hawaii, stating that energy goals are fundamental to our survival and to maintain the liberty to determine our own future.
The OTEC symposium continued with a high-profile panel with speakers from France, the Netherlands, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and the USA who shared their vision on the roadmap towards the realisation of OTEC plants. One key message from the presentations and the active discussion was that collaboration on various levels is vital for the successful developments of OTEC.
Later today, 8 project developers elaborated on their projects, plans and technical advancements in a roundtable discussion with the audience. In the last session, speakers from academic institutions and the private sector presented analytical work and computer models, evaluating the environmental impact of OTEC operations.
The first day of the international OTEC symposium offered a balanced program, covering a wide variety of relevant topics. Moderator Luis Vega did a great job, making sure that everyone felt at home.
We’re looking forward to continuing the sessions tomorrow. In the coming days we will cover some of the presentations in more depth.
The second and last day of the symposium started with 4 inspiring keynote presentations. Both Henk Rogers and Tomoyo Nonaka recognized OTEC as a very promising development in their presentations.
Later that day experimental OTEC plants and other OTEC related applications were presented. The day ended with an open discussion among all participants where we talked about the barriers in building a successful first commercial OTEC plant.
NELHA-visit
On Thursday about 50 people visited NELHA for a tour that was organized by NELHA and Makai Ocean Engineering.
Kerry Kehoe (NOAA) and Dr. Hyeon-Ju Kim (KIOST) have done a great job organizing this conference. Carsten Broich and myself felt very privileged that we have had the opportunity to represent the OTEC foundation at this event. We have had many one-on-one meetings with great people who share the ambition and vision that is needed for OTEC to become reality.
We would like to thank Climate-KIC for their financial and in-person support!
In the coming days and weeks we will publish a series of articles that will be written by the conference-presenters themselves.
Paul Dinnissen
OTEC Foundation
(article updated on September 16th)
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