Plant siting and economic potential of ocean thermal energy conversion in Indonesia a novel GIS-based methodology

Indonesia strives for a renewable energy share of 23% by 2025. One option to contribute to this goal is Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Despite a global theoretical potential of up to 30 TW, its economically deployable share remains unknown. This paper proposes a novel methodology, which enables to determine OTEC's economic potential for any regional scope considering technical, economic and natural variables. The methodology was tested for 100 MWe OTEC in Indonesia on a provincial and national level. Against a regionally variable electricity tariff of 6.67-18.14 US$ct.(2018)/kWh, the national economic potential is 0-2 GWe with a Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) as low as 15.6 US$ct.(2018)/kWh. With an annual electricity production of 0-16 TWh, OTEC could provide up to 6% of Indonesia's electricity demand in 2018. The capacity factor, capital expenses and discount rate are the most sensitive variables of the LCOE on average. A nationally uniform feed-in tariff of 18 US$ct.(2018)/kWh or more could increase the economic potential significantly. The proposed methodology can be a helpful quick scan tool for determining economically interesting OTEC sites for follow-up in-depth feasibility studies. Limitations are discussed and future research, amongst others upscaling scenarios with cost reducing effects like technological learning, is recommended. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

Indonesia aims to achieve a 23% share of renewable energy by 2025, with Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) being considered as a potential contributor. The economic potential of OTEC depends on technical, economic, and natural variables, with the study proposing a novel methodology to assess this potential at different levels in Indonesia.