The Tribune

A UK-based ocean thermal energy conversion provider has been asked to lead a study on whether this renewable energy form is commercially viable in The Bahamas with one eye on its possible application for attracting data centre investment.

Global OTEC, in a statement, said it has been appointed as lead technical partner in a consortium with the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) to conduct a study that was requested by the Bahamian government. It has been commissioned by Expertise France, and will be financed by the European Union (EU), to assess whether this energy form is feasible in The Bahamas.

The UK company described data centres, and the use of ocean thermal power to meet their high electricity demand needs, as “commercially significant for attracting international investment” as it would reduce, or eliminate, the need to draw on high-cost, unreliable fossil fuel power. It would also reduce the strain on existing grid infrastructure. The site chosen for the study will be the old naval base on Eleuthera.

Ocean thermal energy conversion exploits the temperature difference between warm surface seawater and cold water drawn from depth to generate energy, while making that same cold water available for desalination and cooling.

“Any renewable technology can produce electrons, but only one of them also delivers a valuable cooling and drinkable water resource as a by-product. That is the difference between OTEC and everything else in a tropical island context. In The Bahamas, you have huge thermal resource, the subsea connectivity and a government that has been willing to do the groundwork through progressive studies. Our role over the next year is to establish, with real data and engineering, whether a site can carry a first-of-a-kind installation for the Caribbean,” said Dan Grech, founder and chief executive, Global OTEC.

Baha Mar already draws seawater from roughly 300 metres to cool its facilities. “What has not yet happened is the transfer of the full model to the Atlantic, where the Caribbean’s combination of high energy costs, water scarcity and deep water close to shore makes the case unusually strong for an entire region,” Global OTEC added.

“This assignment will build on several years of prior work led by The Bahamas, including a NOAA temperature and salinity measurement campaign conducted off Eleuthera in 2023 using an autonomous sea glider, which collected profiles from the surface to 900 metres and confirmed the presence of a substantial thermal gradient in the water column. The review will also cover matters related to environmental and social concerns and considerations.”