Ocean thermal energy conversion plant

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion arrived as an idea in 1881 when the convergence point hadn't yet formed. Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval, immersed in thermodynamics, recognized what seemed inevitable: the ocean's vertical temperature gradient—warm surface water above frigid depths—represented a permanent heat engine. But recognizing the possibility and achieving it proved separated by a century of engineering reality.

D'Arsonval's proposal emerged from specific adjacent possible: Carnot's thermodynamic principles were established, industrial heat exchangers existed, the ocean's thermal structure was documented. What he couldn't see was that the technology stack remained incomplete. The temperature differential—roughly 20°C—imposed brutal thermodynamic constraints with theoretical maximum efficiency under 7%, real-world perhaps 3%. This meant massive equipment: enormous heat exchangers, gigantic seawater flows, and most lethally, deep-water pipes of unprecedented scale.

His student Georges Claude took the next step in 1930, choosing Matanzas Bay, Cuba. Claude spent millions sinking failed cold-water pipes before one finally worked. His plant achieved 22 kilowatts—enough for 30 lightbulbs—before a hurricane destroyed everything after eleven days. The cold-water pipe proved to be "the big killer for OTEC."

The technology hibernated for four decades. In 1979, Mini-OTEC generated 15 kilowatts off Kona—the first closed-cycle system to work. Japan built a 100-kilowatt demonstration in Okinawa in 2013. Yet OTEC remains pre-commercial after 140 years. The thermodynamic constraints are physics, not engineering. OTEC competes against solar and wind whose costs collapsed while OTEC waited. The technology works but remains suspended between technical feasibility and commercial viability.