Driving the blue and green economy aspirations of Sao Tome and Principe through Ocean Energy Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) (Government of Sao Tome and Principe, SIDS DOC, UNIDO)
The side event is being organized by Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, the Small Island Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Organization (SIDS DOCK), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Global OTEC under the umbrella of the Global Ocean Energy Alliance (GLOE), launched on the margins of the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal.
The event will highlight the opportunities, which Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) offer for the green and blue economy aspirations of São Tomé and Príncipe, a small island developing state (SIDS) and least developed country (LDC) at the coast of Central Africa. The event will inform interested investors and financers on the status of the 1.5 MW floating OTEC platform “Domonique” currently under development at the shore of São Tomé and the existing market potential for other projects in SIDS in Africa, Pacific, Indian Ocean and Caribbean.
The discussions will also tap on lessons learned, existing barriers for the full commercialization of the technology, price trends, as well aspects of quality infrastructure, including social and environmental safeguards. The blue economy holds the most promising solutions for SIDS. OTEC and other ocean energy technologies offer sustainable and climate friendly energy generation with social and economic co-benefits, including food and water security, nutrition, as well as climate resilience. Baseload OTEC capacities can complement other intermediate renewable energy technologies, reduce imported fossil fuels, boost economic development, create jobs, and attract investments.
The Public Private Partnership between UNIDO, SIDS DOCK, the Government of STP and Global OTEC has proven to be a successful cooperation framework. Climate finance must play a key role in co-financing the first-of-a-kind scale OTEC system in the Global South, building the foundation for further replications. The current pipeline includes but is not limited to Belize, Fiji, Grenada, Seychelles and Tonga who have all expressed strong interest.
The event is a ‘call-to-action’ to venture capitalists and providers of concessional finance to invest in the full commercialization of ocean energy technologies and OTEC in particular. It is intended by the partners to involve the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) in the global replication efforts.
