In 2009, DCNS entered into a partnership with the Réunion Island regional council to study the feasibility of installing an ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) demonstrator. The aim is to provide the island with 100% renewable energy and phase out a coal-fired power station.
Réunion Island’s geographic location in the tropics makes it an ideal site for a plant generating electricity on a 24/7 basis by exploiting natural temperature differences between deep and shallow waters.
The study, begun in April 2009, yielded draft specifications and cost estimates for the demonstrator. The encouraging initial results led to a second agreement for the construction of a test facility that will, it is hoped, confirm DCNS’s expertise in this area, along with its approach to the design and maintenance of the proposed plant.
DCNS hopes to see the demonstrator installed by 2015.