Designing and implementing a capacity-building program in Tarawa, Kirbati for multipurpose use of discharged water from an OTEC plant: Introduction and lessons learned so far

Abstract

Tarawa, the capital island of Kiribati, relies heavily on imported diesel for its electricity and is in significant need of reliable source of clean water. In conjunction with 1MW OTEC demonstration plant project, the objective of SSUA (Sustainable Seawater Utilization Academy) is to build capacity of people of Tarawa. The program is run by Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering (KRISO), The Pacific Community (SPC), and University of South Pacific (USP) and composed of lectures and hands-on learning. Main goal of the program is for the participants to understand the principles of OTEC and utilization methods of discharged deep sea water for various purposes. Multipurpose uses of discharged waterfrom OTEC plant includes SWAC (Seawater Air Conditioning), desalination, agriculture, hydroponics, aquaculture, just to name a few. To bring the most relevant knowledge on these topics to people of Tarawa, SSUA has brought experts on thesefields from KRISO, SPC, USP, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and other public and private universities, research institutes, and public and private companies from Korea, Fiji, and USA. The program is composed of four quarters. First, second, and third quarters opened in May, July, and September and last quarter will open on 31th of October. The participants of SSUA include students from University of South Pacific (USP) Kiribati campus, Kiribati Institute of Technology (KIT),