Authors(s): Biren Pattanaik*, Anulekha Majumdar, Prasad Dudhgaonkar and Purnima Jalihal
Date of Publication: May, 2025
Publication reference: J. Ind. Geophys. Union, 29(3) (2025), 139-147
Abstract:
Today, the world faces several climate change-related issues due to pollution. The globe is seeing several alternate sources of renewable energy. Also, there is an acute energy crisis due to fast-depleting fossil fuel reserves on the earth, and there will be a time, when the known reserves will become extinct, or extraction from these reserves will become highly costly and technologically challenging, not forgetting the fact that this exploitation has led to adverse effects on the earth’s climate. While solar, wind, biomass, and other forms are already being tapped globally, renewable energy resources that can be harnessed from the vast oceans, have now become a focus of the scientific community worldwide. The oceans offer huge spaces where new technologies can be tried and tested without affecting human settlement or the environment. Many countries have already started working towards this. In India, this development is led by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). Extensive efforts are being made at this institute to develop technologies related to the energy extraction from ocean waves, based on the oscillating water column principle, from ocean currents using principles of hydrokinetics, and from ocean thermal gradient along the sea depth using a rankine cycle. The floating wave energy devices like backwards bent ducted buoy and wave-powered navigational buoy, cross flow hydro kinetic turbine and Open cycle ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), are a few of the technologies that have been developed and demonstrated. The development consists of numerical analyses, laboratory studies and open sea trials. This paper briefly discusses these developmental activities and the status of the development of ocean energy by NIOT. It also discusses all these indigenously developed ocean energy conversion systems, their performance during the testing phase, and their challenges and opportunities in India.
Keywords: Ocean energy, Wave energy, Oscillating Water Column (OWC), Hydro kinetic energy, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC),
Renewable energy