On May 29, the COI and Japan dedicated a seminar to ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a technology that produces electricity from the temperature difference between surface waters and ocean depths. Adapted to tropical islands, OTEC offers continuous production. In Réunion, this abundant resource had been studied as part of energy autonomy, but its development has been abandoned since 2010 despite its strategic potential, to the benefit of foreign companies that profit by importing energy to Réunion.
On May 29, the Indian Ocean Commission (COI), in partnership with Japan, organized a seminar on innovative renewable energy solutions for the African islands of the Indian Ocean, including Réunion. The meeting brought together experts, institutional leaders, and development actors around a technology with significant prospects: ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC).
The discussions highlighted the considerable potential of this resource for the islands of our region. Participants examined the possibilities offered by exploiting the temperature difference between warm surface waters and cold deep ocean waters. This thermal difference allows for continuous electricity production, independent of wind, sunlight, or weather conditions.
Strengthening the energy autonomy of the COI
The seminar also aimed to identify concrete solutions to strengthen the energy autonomy of COI members. In a context marked by rising energy costs, dependence on imports, and the need to combat climate change, OTEC appears as a technology particularly suited to tropical island territories.
For Réunion, this debate is nothing new. Until 2010, ocean thermal energy was among the strategic paths studied as part of our country's energy autonomy project. Réunion's geography indeed offers very favorable conditions for this technology: warm surface waters year-round and seabeds that quickly reach great depths near the coast.
OTEC's main advantage lies in its constancy. While solar and wind energy are intermittent, ocean thermal energy can operate twenty-four hours a day. It is therefore capable of providing the base load necessary for the electricity grid. This characteristic makes it a credible alternative to plants fueled by imported fuels, such as thermal or nuclear power plants.
Even today, a significant portion of the electricity consumed in Réunion depends heavily on resources imported from other continents by EDF and Albioma. Even the biomass used for electricity production relies on imported wood. Yet the ocean surrounding our island represents a local, renewable, and free energy source.
Repairing the sabotage of Réunion's energy autonomy plan
The resurgence of international interest in OTEC shows that this technology is not a thing of the past. On the contrary, it meets the challenges facing the islands of the Indian Ocean. The seminar organized by the COI and Japan thus reminds us that solutions exist to reduce the energy dependence of our territories.
For Réunion, this initiative is also an opportunity to reflect on the choices made since 2010. While energy autonomy was a stated goal, structural projects based on local resources have gradually been sabotaged. Yet ocean thermal energy remains one of the few solutions capable of providing abundant, stable, and locally produced electricity.
The ocean is one of Réunion's greatest natural assets. The debate relaunched at the regional level by the COI invites us to put this resource back at the heart of reflection on the energy future of the country.
M.M.
