Session 5.2: Ocean Energy in the 21st Century

May 22nd, 2019

While oceans have proved to be a promising source of clean energy, they have not gained popularity or become a mainstream source of renewable energy, as have wind and solar. The session provided an overview on developments in commercializing ocean energy generation and related end-uses, such as offshore wind, marine floating solar, ocean biomass, in-stream tidal conversion, and cleaner marine propulsion.

Moderator: Dan Millison, Consultant, ADB

Presenters:

Achieving 100% Renewable Energy Using New Offshore Floating Solar Technology
Harald van Hoeken, Director, Oceans of Energy

This year The Netherlands will showcase the world’s first truly offshore floating solar project at open sea, 12 km offshore from The Hague. This presentation provided an overview of the patented offshore, integrated PV-system that is designed for modularity and to cope with rough sea conditions including corrosion, wind and waves up to 13 meters high.

Making Brownfields Blue: Catalyzing Sustainable Investment in the Ocean Economy with Rigs-to-Reefs
Emily Hazelwood, Co-Founder, Blue Latitudes

Offshore energy development has led to the installation of thousands of offshore structures in the world’s oceans, including about 1,400 in Asia, most of which will be decommissioned in the near future. Many of these platforms are home to some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, making decommissioning via removal and on-shore disposal environmentally detrimental, and needlessly expensive. This presentation described the Rigs to Reefs (RtR) program which is a replicable and scalable solution that can catalyze sustainable ocean resource development.

Solar Powered Boats: The New Paradigm of Eco-Friendly Water Transportation and Sustainable Tourism
Julien Melot, CEO, Azura Marine Pte Ltd.

Millions of small boats roam the Asian seas, most often propelled by outdated engines with high fuel consumption and environmental impact. This presentation explored pragmatic and efficient eco-alternatives to polluting boats and provided an overview of Azura Marine's first solar powered sampan "Surya Namaskar" launched in Bali, Indonesia in 2017.

From France to the Philippines: Pioneering Tidal Stream Energy
Jean-Christophe Allo, Head of Business Development, SABELLA

The San Bernardino Ocean Power Project is an transformative initiative carried out by H&WB (a Philippines project developer) and SABELLA (a French technology developer) to develop ASEAN’s first commercial power plant deploying in-stream tidal turbines. This presentation highlighted key aspects of the program and discussed the technical, economic, social and environmental stakes (decarbonization, energy security improvement, cost competitiveness, entailed economic development, environmental and social acceptation) of ocean energy in the Philippines.

Blue Innovation using OTEC and DOWA from Asia-Pacific
Yasuki Ikegami, Deputy Director and Leader of OTEC Division, Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University, Japan

An Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and Deep Sea Water Application (DOWA) have been strongly focused again on the important one solution for expected for saving the earth and Sustainable Development Golds (SDGs) . In recent years, the technology and business have been internationally advanced to a new stage. The OTEC system produces the power from the ocean thermal energy. The typical advantage of the OTEC is the stable power generation rather than other renewables such as solar PVs and wind mills. And, OTEC could be produced the by-products and job creations using the discharged deep seawater. The OTEC facility at Kumejima, in Japan, was launched in 2013 and is continuously operating using the advanced technology, as international forefront. There are the highest potential of OTEC in the seas of Asia-Pacific. This presentation showcased the feasibility of contribution on SDGs using OTEC and DOWS in Asia-Pacific.