Site Selection for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plants (OTEC): A Case Study in Panama

Abstract

This research addressed a need for technical evaluation of the oceanic scenario of Panama for the use of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Its bathymetry and location can potentially lead to the exploitation of OTEC, diversifying the energy matrix and helping achieve sustainability. Nevertheless, site selection for OTEC can be a complex task since it involves various alternatives, with different quantitative and qualitative criteria, which may conflict in some cases. Optimization and multiple criteria (MCD) methods have been used lately to address these issues; however, their use is still limited. Here, Analytic Hierarchical Analysis (AHP) is proposed as a MCD method for site selection. Six sites of interest were considered as the alternatives for a plant installment. These sites were chosen, excluding the environmentally and aboriginal protected areas. The quantitative criteria considered were surface and deep-water temperatures, coastline distance, gross and net efficiency. Those variables related to the efficiency, such as the water temperatures, can be considered the most influential, leading to Punta Burica, located on Panama’s Pacific coast, as the best option (96.17%).

Keywords

• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
• site selection
• multi-criteria decision (MCD)
• hierarchy analysis process (AHP)
• renewable energy