Above: Barbados (CJ Photo)

Barbados is actively exploring the possibility of using Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, according to the government, as it seeks to develop a “blue economy.”

Minister With Responsibility for Water Resource Management Dr David Eastwick will soon be visiting Japan to learn more about the process, a green energy source rooted in the ocean.

“The technology was developed in the 1930s,” Eastwick said. “Because of the new oil crisis and the potential for increases in fossil fuel costs, the technology is now on the front burner.”

OTEC works by running a heat engine using the difference in heat between shallow and deep ocean waters.

He said another Caribbean country, the Bahamas was now in the process of developing two new OTEC plants to produce electricity.

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands are also reportedly constructing Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion facilities, he said.

“Can you imagine if you can produce electricity from the ocean, what it would mean to Barbados not to import fossil fuels?” he asked. “Can Barbadians imagine what that would mean?”

The cost of producing electricity from the ocean is comparable to coal in the United States, he said, which is about 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

Currently, Barbados pays around 90 cents per kilowatt hour.

In addition to producing electricity, an OTEC plant could also produce desalinated water.

Eastwick will be joined on the Japan trip by an official from the Barbados Water Authority.