Miami, Florida ~ USA

The predecessor to the US Department of Energy, ERDA, in 1975-77, funded two studies on the “Feasibility of a District Cooling System Using Natural Cold Waters” (Hirshman and Kirklin 1977). The initial report concluded that the coast of Southern Florida, from Fort Lauderdale to Miami Beach, would be the most suitable location in the US to use naturally cold water for comfort cooling. The second report made an actual feasibility study for a Miami Beach seawater district cooling plant situated at Indian Beach Park. The conclusion of the report states that the “payoff of investment costs with energy savings is seen to be in the fifth year of operation using the recognized discount/inflation rate of ten percent and a differential energy cost escalation rate of seven percent” (Hirshman and Kirklin 1977).

The map below is from a US Government sponsored feasibility study locating a cold ocean water district cooling plant on Miami Beach Florida at Indian Beach Park (Hirshman and Kirklin 1977). The picture (right) shows a current photo of the same location, still relatively available, with a park and parking lot and new potential cooling customers such as the Marriott Group property next door at the Eden Rock Renaissance.

Puerto Rico ~ USA

The potential to drill for cold water in Puerto Rico is within an 11 kilometer horizontal reach of directional drilling. The area near Punta Tuna, on the south east of the island, seems to have an exceptionally close proximity from the coast to the 1000 meter depth contour line. There is also deep cold water at depths less than 1000 meters. The 1000 meter contour line should be a starting point for environmental scientists and oceanographers to confirm the location and temperature off the shore for potential projects. As an example, Dr. Vance Vicente, an environmental scientist from Puerto Rico estimated that the Marriott hotel in San Juan is roughly 2 miles, or 3.2 kilometers drilling distance, from the 4oC cold water of the Puerto Rico Trench.

Mid East

The Middle East region, while well known for fuel production and very warm bodies of water such as the Arabian Gulf, also has areas of deep cold water. The region apparently has extensive experience in directional drilling. The challenge for Drilled Hydrothermal Energy in the region is to position the two water energy sources of at least 20oC side by side and transport the energy to where it is needed. This topic should be the subject of further in depth research but the first figure below begins to illustrate the opportunity. A close look at the bathymetry off the coast between Masqat and Sur, Oman in the second figure below demonstrates that, while the distances between the warm and cold water sources seem to be great, they are still within reach of current technology. An examination of the coastal waters off Gwadar, Pakistan shows the 1000 meter contour just 12,000 meters off shore.