GENOTEC PLANS COMMERCIAL OTEC PLANT IN VIRGIN ISLANDS

IOA News Letters Summary

GenOtec Corporation of Washington, D. C., is concentrating its efforts on developing and constructing a commercial OTEC plant on the north shore of St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands. It would be a closed cycle, 1and-based 5 MW system to provide electricity and produce potable desalinated water. Mr. W. Allan Bean, Executive Vice President, states that GenOtec is concentrating on integrating the OTEC facility into the island community, using OTEC to help meet economic needs as well as provide employment opportunities to the local population. He states that the focus of GenOtec is on the Caribbean, with its excellent thermal resource. He believes that the 5 MW plant is within the state of the art and would provide a meaingful and positive impact on St. Croix.
GenOtec is currently working closely with the Virgin Island Government and various local agencies to work out a specific plan to build the first commercial OTEC plant. This specific plan includes the site selection, water and power purchase agreements, interconnection plans, and a specific timetable. Finance arrangements are being made so that GenOtec will arrange to set up a local corporation which will buy the land finance plant construction and operation. The Virgin Islands will not have to assume any fiancial risk nor-contribute funds to the project.A national engineering and construction firm has agreed to work closely with GenOtec in the engineering design and the construction of the plant. Mr. Bean is hopeful that the project will soon obtain the necessary financing to being the detail engineering design and the filing of the environmental impact statement. The OTEC plant  should be operational in 1994.