How OTEC helps Advance the UN SDGs

The ocean covers over 70% of our planet, and within it lies a great solution for a more sustainable future. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a renewable technology that produces clean, reliable electricity by harnessing the natural temperature difference between warm tropical surface waters and cold deep waters. And its impact goes far beyond power generation. By contributing to reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, strengthening island and coastal economies, and supporting marine conservation, OTEC directly advances several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Below, we detail how Global OTEC is contributing to building a cleaner, fairer, and more resilient future through its alignment with the SDGs:

• SDG 5: Gender Equality
  
  Empowering women through inclusive stakeholder engagement, reducing daily burdens with reliable power, and driving tourism-based jobs with better pay equity.
  
• SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy
  Offering baseload renewable energy, lowering reliance on diesel imports, and offsetting ~134,000 tCO₂e per 1 MW of OTEC capacity.
  
• SDG 8: Economic Growth & Decent Work
  Creating local employment, improving grid reliability, supporting fisheries, reducing trade deficits, and bolstering tourism and the blue economy.
  
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
  Building resilient infrastructure, enabling island-scale industrial decarbonisation, and generating validated impact research.
  
• SDG 13: Climate Action
  Replacing diesel with clean ocean power, supporting biodiversity-friendly renewable planning, preventing deforestation, and reinforcing island resilience.
  
• SDG 14: Life Below Water
  Studying marine ecosystems’ response to OTEC, informing policy, and enhancing sustainable marine resource use.