Beyond electricity: The potential of ocean thermal energy and ocean technology ecoparks in small tropical islands

Small islands face difficult challenges to guarantee energy, freshwater and food supply, and sustainable development. The urge to meet their needs, together with the mitigation and adaptation plans to address climate change, have led them to develop renewable energy systems, with a special interest in Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) in tropical islands. Deep Ocean Water (DOW) is a resource that can provide electricity (through OTEC in combination with warm surface water), low temperatures for refrigeration, and nutrients for food production. In this paper we propose an Ocean Technology Ecopark (OTEP) as an integral solution for small islands that consists of an OTEC plant, other alternative uses of DOW, and a Research and Development (R&D) center. We present an application of OTEP to San Andres, a Colombian island that meets all the necessary conditions for the implementation of OTEC technology, water desalinization, and a business model for DOW. We present the main entrance barriers and a four-stage roadmap for the consolidation and sustainability of the OTEP.