3.1.2. Current status
In the United States, OTEC research has stalled since federal funding was cut in the 1980s. Though pilot OTEC plants at NELHA were able to successfully produce net power, they were considered uneconomical compared to fossil fuels. No net-power-generating plants are currently operating at NELHA, but the lab has plans for a new closed-cycle plant, scheduled for construction by summer of 2002, that will generate between 1 and 1.4 MW of power [9] and [10]. Additionally, the US Navy is considering building an 8 MW OTEC plant with a 2 MW gas-powered backup turbine to replace the 15 MW gas plant currently on its base on the British Island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Because about 5 MW of the power generated by the gas plant is devoted to air conditioning, which could be replaced by cooling with water brought up by the OTEC pipes, the smaller capacity OTEC plant could replace the gas plant. The plant could also help supply the island with drinking water [10].
Sea Solar Power Inc. has developed two conceptual models for OTEC plants, one 10 MW land-based model for small islands and the other 100-MW floating platform model for mainland use. Their model is 8 times smaller than the US government design for the same capacity plant. It therefore would use and discharge significantly less water, and would cost about as much [11]. SSP believes that though OTEC power production was not economical in the NELHA experiment, the SSP design could be cost-effective [12]. Currently, SSP is involved in a 2-yr, $20 million project to test and refine each of the components of the system [9]. After optimization of the system, SSP plans to begin work on a 10 MW pilot project in Guam [12] and a 100 MW floating plant in Tamil Nadu, south India [11].