Lockheed Martin Gets Its Feet Wet with Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

Global security giant and advanced energy technologies provider Lockheed Martin is working on a system to generate electricity from the difference in temperature of warm surface ocean water and the much colder water far below. The Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system concept is fairly simple, said Lockheed Martin OTEC capture manager Rob Varley. "It works very much like the heat pump in your home." Warm surface water will be pumped through a heat exchanger where liquid ammonia will evaporate and rotate turbines to produce electricity. Cold water will pass through another heat exchanger to condense the vapor back to liquid to complete a closed cycle. The 5 to 10 MW pilot OTEC plant will operate on a floating platform off the coast of Hawaii, and is estimated to be in business by 2014 or 2015. Lockheed Martin began developing specialized components for the OTEC system in 2007 and has since received a little over $10 million in grants from the U.S. Navy and the Energy Department. In a related project, Lockheed Martin is working on a sea water-based air conditioning system for buildings.

Quick Take: Oceans obviously are a huge renewable energy resource, but technological challenges seem to get in the way. It'll be interesting to watch Lockheed Martin's progress.

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