Ocean energy for isolated communities
Proposal for an MSc project
Background
The oceans contain vast amounts of energy. There are different resources, including wave
energy, energy in tidal streams and currents, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC),
salinity gradients and aquatic biomass.
As for many renewable energy applications, first commercialisation is likely in areas with
high energy prices. This is often the case on islands and other isolated coastal areas. In these
places, conventional energy supply is expensive due to high fuel transportation costs and
the lack of economies of scale.
Identification of these early niches is important as it provides directions for technology
development and start-up economic activity.
Aim of the project
The aim of this project is to investigate which are the most promising areas -in terms of
geography, technology types and scale of deployment- for early commercialisation of ocean
energy technologies in isolated areas (communities of, say, up to 1 million people).
Description of activities, research methods etc.
The basic challenge is to match energy-using communities on the one hand with energy
technology applications on the other hand. After a literature survey, the work consists first
of all of building a representative database or GIS system of isolated energy using
communities. Characterisation includes size of population, type and amount of energy use,
potential development of energy use, energy prices, location, distance to coast, etc.
Next, technologies should be modelled in terms of potentials and costs as a function of scale
and local circumstances. This modelling can be done in cooperation with experts in various
technologies at TU-Delft.
The model can then be run on the database to select the most promising applications of the
energy technologies. Also, the model can be used for other applications, like establishing
the total potential and determining cost-supply curve for isolated applications of ocean
energy.
Required expertise
Students should have sufficient knowledge of energy systems analysis. Students from
different master programmes (e.g. SEPAM or SET) can apply.
Contact details
Please contact prof. dr. Kornelis Blok, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management
E-mail: k.blok@tudelft.nl, phone 015-27 85751 (Mondays)
Addres: Jaffalaan 5, Room B3.060