Full Development of OTEC's Potential May Be Impeded

GAO reviewed selected aspects of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Program to ascertain the OTEC potential, the reasonableness of the DOE program approach, and related funding.

DOE altered its program approach from researching and developing various possible OTEC options to emphasizing development of the most technically advanced systems. A comprehensive plan, currently being developed for submission to Congress, is primarily directed toward accomplishing the specific interim program goals through the year 1999 as detailed in applicable legislation. GAO is concerned that the plan may not adequately address the full impact of the change in program approach on the development of the OTEC potential to the United States. Current DOE efforts emphasize near-term projects directed toward deployment of pilot plants by 1986. With the shift in program approach, DOE is emphasizing the development of the floating-moored plant concept using the closed-cycle system. Also, DOE has reduced its efforts on other OTEC alternatives, which could result in possible harm to the overall goal of gaining significant amounts of energy from OTEC if the floating-moored plant concept is found not to be easily adapted to other locations or applications. While the GAO report was in final preparation, the Administration revised its budget request for fiscal year 1982 to include no funds for the program. DOE justified this proposed program elimination on the basis that OTEC technology has matured sufficiently so that further development can be left to the private sector. This may work for the proposed closed-cycle pilot plant if private firms can obtain the necessary funding, but alternatives still in the research phase are not likely to receive support from private firms.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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