Sea Solar Power, Inc.

Sea Solar Power, Inc., through private funding, has continued to develop and test the key elements of a Rankine cycle OTEC plant. These are the vapor turbines, water pumps, heat exchangers, cold water pipe, vacuum pump, and integrated floating structure. Excellent progress has been made.

Learning from the experiences of Claude, the Andersons designed their plant to be floating so that the cold water pipe would extend straight down to the coldest water. To minimize the stresses on the cold water pipe and connection, the Anderson-designed plant is mostly submerged below the action of the wind and waves. In addition, the cold water pipe is supported by the plant with a specially designed flexible connection.

To further the technology of the cold water pipe, Sea Solar Power has developed a revolutionary stockade construction, which allows individual pieces to form a large circular pipe. Made of strong, light, reinforced fiberglass composite, it would be assembled on the floating platform. This is similar to drill pipe installations on offshore oil-drilling platforms with one section attached to the previous sections as the whole pipe is lowered to depth. SSP has been testing pipe sections for strength and connection reliability.

Heat exchangers, designed by Sea Solar Power, are a critical item of our technology. SSP has been extensively testing both plate/fin and shell & tube exchangers since the 1970’s. The exchanger efficiencies that have been achieved allow the heat exchangers and the overall plant to be of reasonable size and cost.

A new vacuum pump for removing air from the warm water has been designed, built and tested. A specially-designed vapor turbine has been manufactured and is ready to be assembled and tested at our Jacobus, PA facility.

The state of Sea Solar Power’s proprietary technologyis such that a prototype floating plant can be built today at a reasonable cost, to demonstrate the technology and the opportunities. Using real quotations for all the components, as estimated by respectable manufacturers, SSP has been able to estimate the cost of floating plants. Seven independent engineering studies by private firms, colleges, and associations corroborate SSP’s design.

A small but commercial-sized floating SSP plant ---20-40MW---could be built within about 39 months. This would establish a working prototype and a test bed on which to evaluate and improve components. At the same time, electricity (and other products) could be generated to pay off the plant.

The Abell Foundation

The Abell Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland is a charitable foundation with $300 million in assets. One of its missions is to invest in important new technologies. Another is to increase employment in Baltimore which has suffered the effects of deindustralization.

Baltimore was once a world-class shipbuilding and marine oriented community. Much of this unused capacity could swing into action if shipbuilding were once again slated for Baltimore. By working closely with the leaders of the Maryland's public sector it has been made clear how Sea Solar Power can offer an enormous job creating opportunity for Maryland and particularly Baltimore.

• The Abell Foundation has been involved with Sea Solar Power for years. The Foundation engaged independent engineers, spending $200,000 to confirm SSP’s work. Conclusions were very positive. In a licensing agreement between SSP and the Foundation, Abell is to make a best effort to continue the development of SSP’s technology and to market it. Abell has established a subsidiary LLC, Sea Solar Power International, to market the technology.

To learn more about The Abell Foundation, visit their website at www.abell.org.