The Republic of Korea has pledged to provide official development assistance for marine energy programs in the Pacific Ocean, including the support for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) scheme in Marshall Islands.
According to the information from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, South Korea will provide 50kW OTEC generators as well as air conditioners and heaters which can cool and heat about 5000 m2 areas for Marshall Islands .
In addition, South Korea will assist capacity building so that Pacific islanders can use seawater on their own by establishing and operating Sustainable Seawater Use Academy.
Provided by South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the aid initiative, worth $5.2 million, will be completed by December 31, 2026, according to United Nations .
The technical and educational assistance will be offered by marine energy experts, and will also include education programs on how to desalinate discharge water and use it for hydroponics.
OTEC is a process or technology for producing energy by harnessing the temperature differences between warm, ocean surface waters and colder, deep ocean waters.
Warm surface water is pumped through an evaporator containing a working fluid. The vaporized fluid drives a turbine generator. The vaporized fluid is turned back to a liquid in a condenser cooled with cold ocean water pumped from deeper in the ocean.
OTEC systems using seawater as the working fluid can use the condensed water to produce desalinated water.