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NELHA pipeline under threat
According to West Hawaii Today, the NELHA deep sea water pipeline has partially come loose from its moorings and could break, causing substantial repair costs, in the US$ 10 million range. Fixing the problem before it breaks could cost as much as US$1 million. According to the article "Repair work needs to be undertaken at depths of 400 to 500 feet, where a concrete anchor is rolling on the sea floor and "bridles" holding the pipe in place have begun to separate.". NELHA is having problems getting the money to perform the repairs.
posted by bjelkeman at 17:42

Hybrid ocean thermal energy conversion – Offshore solar pond
Paul Straatman and Wilfried van Sark, has written an interesting new article (abstract) in Solar Energy about a new type of hybrid ocean thermal energy conversion system, an offshore solar pond,
posted by bjelkeman at 17:20

Biofuel from algae
One of the potential side benefits of OTEC power plants, which is often talked about, is the possibility of growing algae in the nutrient rich water which is brought up as cooling water for the OTEC process. Shell together with HR Biopetroleum will be growing un-modified algae at NELHA Hawaii, to produce biofuel. This is a research project with some interesting potential. According to the press release the algae can "produce at least 15 times more oil per hectare than alternatives such as rape, palm soya or jatropha".
posted by bjelkeman at 16:53

Energy Island in UK news
Energy Island, the brain child of Dominic Michaelis and his colleagues, was covered quite nicely both in The Guardian and The Telegraph last week. Dominic and his colleague Jerome Tomasi has written on the subject of OTEC vs. Reverse Osmosis for us before.
posted by bjelkeman at 16:37

India OTEC trial starts
According to The Hindu and The Times of India, OTEC power generation trials have started, presumably on the Sagar Shakti research vessel, which is a 1 MW closed cycle plant.
posted by bjelkeman at 16:26