Abstract
The governance of Puerto Rico set the goal to transition to using 100% renewable energy for all of its power demands by 2050. To support this goal, three national laboratories collaborated on a two-year project entitled “Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy” (PR100), to identify the electrical needs and renewable energy resources available in the region. Being an island territory, Puerto Rico is uniquely positioned to tap into marine energy resources to meet their renewable energy goals and enhance their coastal resilience. This study is particularly concerned with assessing Puerto Rico’s energy potential from tidal streams, ocean currents, and ocean thermal gradients. Greater focus is given to the latter for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems because it represents a bigger gap in current research. The power yields of each energy source are estimated through different numerical models, validated against in-situ measurements, and used to highlight regions with greater power potential in the context of blue economy applications.