Abstract
Hybrid-cycle OTEC power plants are shown to be potentially the most flexible and cost effective in obtaining any specific mix of electrical power and desalinated water. This paper describes two particular hybrid configurations, one achieves maximum power production and the other maximum water production for a given cold sea-water flow rate and pipe size. When power is the desired commodity and desalinated water is the by-product, the most effective configuration is the conventional hybrid cycle. When only water production is required, the desired configuration combines a multistage flash evaporator and a closed-cycle power OTEC plant, the latter generates the power to run the support equipment with no net or minimal power generation.