KRISO Takes the Lead in International Standardization of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion(OTEC)

▶ KRISO provides a new project leader for IEC Marine Energy Technical Committee (TC114)

▶ Leading the international standardization based on R&D experience in OTEC

□ Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO, President Keyyong Hong) took the first step for the international standardization of the ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) in the International Electrotechnical Commission Marine Energy Technical Committee (IEC TC114).

□ The IEC, founded in 1906, is an international standardization organization in the fields of electricity and electronics with 89 member countries. It establishes international standards with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The IEC TC114 was founded in 2007 for international standardization in the field of marine energy.

□ As the new work item proposal (NP) “Electricity producing ocean thermal energy converters - Power performance assessment” proposed to the IEC TC114 by Dr. Jongbeom Seo of the KRISO Seawater Energy Plant Research Center in 2023 was adopted in March this year, Dr. Seo was appointed as the leader of the new project.

□ Considering that countries such as the US, UK, and France are taking the lead in technical standards in the field of ocean energy, it is particularly significant that a Korean researcher was appointed the leader of the international standardization project, demonstrating the world-class status and competitiveness of Korea’s ocean energy technology.

□ The standard proposal includes standards for test equipment; test procedures and methods; output performance calculation; report writing method, etc. that are required to evaluate the OTEC power generation performance. The first project team (PT 62600-21) meeting was held at the 2024 General Meeting to discuss the development of standard documents.

□ The project team plans to complete standard development by 2026. When this standard proposal is approved as an international standard in the future, it is expected that an objective evaluation technique for the OTEC output performance will be established for the first time in the world, thereby accelerating commercialization of the technology along with systematic technology development.

□ Dr. Jongbeom Seo of KRISO said, “We are pleased to promote KRISO’s excellence in marine energy technology at the IEC International Conference and demonstrate our leadership in the field of international standardization.” He added, “Based on our past R&D accomplishments in OTEC and research experience, including the real sea demonstration of the world’s largest 1 MW OTEC platform, we will strive to lead the international standards and lay the foundation for overseas expansion of Korea’s technologies.”

□ Meanwhile, in addition to OTEC, KRISO is developing various marine energy technologies such as wave power generation, offshore wind power generation, and green hydrogen production and is also promoting marine energy technology performance evaluation focusing on the Jeju wave power plant real-sea test site.