c. Scalable to large power-generating stations (100+ MW)-utility scale
power production; this turbine has been installed at numerous locations
in Alaska.
5. In the summer of 2012, a hydrokinetic power-generation project was completed
off the coast of Maine. This project was a result of collaboration between the
department of energy and local community. The project will provide electricity to the local community. The project used the cross-flow turbine design similar to that shown in Figure 13.6, and it will generate power using the energy
generated from underwater currents off the coast of Maine [97]. The electric
power will be supplied using underwater power grid to the local town.
Besides the above five examples of commercialization, a number of hydrokinetic
generation technologies are moving beyond pilot or demonstration stages [58–63]
(Bertsch, 2012, pers. comm.). * In 2011, the United States had less than 1 MW of
installed hydrokinetic generation capacity, as compared to more than 77,000 MW of
conventional hydroelectric generation capacity [40,42,44] (Dixon et al., 2008, pers.
comm.). As of June 2011, the FERC had issued 70 preliminary permits for hydrokinetic projects (27 tidal, 8 wave, and 35 inland) with 9306 MW of generation capacity
384
Water for Energy and Fuel Production
[37,42,44] (Dixon et al., 2008, pers. comm.). Preliminary permits were pending for
an additional 147 projects with 17,353 MW of capacity [37,42,44,90].
The development and implementation of new commercial projects will require
strong public/private financial backing, local political support for guaranty use of
generated power, an efficient licensing approval system along with all the environmental considerations mentioned above [33,37,49,50,57–63] (Bertsch, 2012, pers.
comm.). † Areas in the United States with good wave energy potentials include most
of the continental US west coast, Hawaii, and Alaska. For tidal energy, good sites
exist in the Puget Sound, San Francisco, a variety of east coast tidal channels, and
Alaska. For river hydrokinetic energy, large inland rivers such as the Mississippi,
Missouri, and Yukon have promising potential power [33,66–71,90].
13.4 OCean thermal enerGy COnVersiOn (OteC)
This technology uses the temperature difference between warmer surface of the
ocean and cooler deep water to run a heat engine to produce electricity. The heat
cycle commonly used in the OTEC process is a Rankin cycle using a low-pressure
turbine. While the attempt to develop and refine the OTEC technology started in the
1880s [92], one of the first successful plants generating 22 kW electricity was built
in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1930 [75].
Japan is the major contributor to the OTEC technology. Tokyo Electric Power
Company started building a 100-kW closed-loop cycle OTEC plant on the island of
* Bertsch, D.J., Juris Doctoral candidate, The University of South Dakota School of Law, 2011; Congress
defined hydrokinetic energy as “electrical energy from waves, tides, and currents in oceans, estuaries, and tidal areas; free flowing water in rivers, lakes, and streams, or man-made channels; and differentials in ocean temperature (ocean thermal energy conversion),” The Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007, 42 USC §17211 (2006).
† Ibid.
power production; this turbine has been installed at numerous locations
in Alaska.
5. In the summer of 2012, a hydrokinetic power-generation project was completed
off the coast of Maine. This project was a result of collaboration between the
department of energy and local community. The project will provide electricity to the local community. The project used the cross-flow turbine design similar to that shown in Figure 13.6, and it will generate power using the energy
generated from underwater currents off the coast of Maine [97]. The electric
power will be supplied using underwater power grid to the local town.
Besides the above five examples of commercialization, a number of hydrokinetic
generation technologies are moving beyond pilot or demonstration stages [58–63]
(Bertsch, 2012, pers. comm.). * In 2011, the United States had less than 1 MW of
installed hydrokinetic generation capacity, as compared to more than 77,000 MW of
conventional hydroelectric generation capacity [40,42,44] (Dixon et al., 2008, pers.
comm.). As of June 2011, the FERC had issued 70 preliminary permits for hydrokinetic projects (27 tidal, 8 wave, and 35 inland) with 9306 MW of generation capacity
384
Water for Energy and Fuel Production
[37,42,44] (Dixon et al., 2008, pers. comm.). Preliminary permits were pending for
an additional 147 projects with 17,353 MW of capacity [37,42,44,90].
The development and implementation of new commercial projects will require
strong public/private financial backing, local political support for guaranty use of
generated power, an efficient licensing approval system along with all the environmental considerations mentioned above [33,37,49,50,57–63] (Bertsch, 2012, pers.
comm.). † Areas in the United States with good wave energy potentials include most
of the continental US west coast, Hawaii, and Alaska. For tidal energy, good sites
exist in the Puget Sound, San Francisco, a variety of east coast tidal channels, and
Alaska. For river hydrokinetic energy, large inland rivers such as the Mississippi,
Missouri, and Yukon have promising potential power [33,66–71,90].
13.4 OCean thermal enerGy COnVersiOn (OteC)
This technology uses the temperature difference between warmer surface of the
ocean and cooler deep water to run a heat engine to produce electricity. The heat
cycle commonly used in the OTEC process is a Rankin cycle using a low-pressure
turbine. While the attempt to develop and refine the OTEC technology started in the
1880s [92], one of the first successful plants generating 22 kW electricity was built
in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1930 [75].
Japan is the major contributor to the OTEC technology. Tokyo Electric Power
Company started building a 100-kW closed-loop cycle OTEC plant on the island of
* Bertsch, D.J., Juris Doctoral candidate, The University of South Dakota School of Law, 2011; Congress
defined hydrokinetic energy as “electrical energy from waves, tides, and currents in oceans, estuaries, and tidal areas; free flowing water in rivers, lakes, and streams, or man-made channels; and differentials in ocean temperature (ocean thermal energy conversion),” The Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007, 42 USC §17211 (2006).
† Ibid.