The announcement regarding GLOEA was made during the fifth Pacific Regional Energy and Transport Ministers’ Meeting (PRETMM), hosted by the Government of Vanuatu, in Port Vila, earlier in May.
A major outcome of the meeting was an agreement to develop an ocean readiness program preparing the Pacific Island Countries and Territories for future ocean renewable energy technologies.
This measure aims to mitigate barriers and brings the latest innovations to the Pacific. Martin Lugmayr, from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), noted that projections suggest that by 2030 the ocean economy could reach over $3 trillion and create 40 million jobs.
Under the GLOEA, São Tomé and Príncipe, a pioneering Small Island Developing State (SIDS), took the lead in demonstrating the commercialization of OTEC in SIDS, which is proving to be the shining example to the rest of the world of how diesel fuel imports can be replaced with clean energy from the ocean.
“Ocean energy can address the blue and green economy aspirations of SIDS simultaneously, and can significantly contribute to climate resilience”, Lugmayr said during his presentation on the GLOEA proposal for the Pacific, spotlighting Global OTEC’s floating platform called Dominique.
Dominique is a first-of-a-kind 1.5MW floating OTEC platform being developed by the UK-based company and is supported by SIDS DOCK, UNIDO and the GN-SEC under a Global Environment Facility/Green Climate Fund (GEF/GCF) funded project.
It is expected to be deployed in 2025 in São Tomé and Príncipe, located off the West coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea.
