Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 1.djvu/993

 PUBLIC LAW 96-310—JULY 17, 1980

94 STAT. 943

agency cooperation in meeting such goals, any comments on and recommendations for improvements in the comprehensive program management plan made by the Technical Panel established under section 8, and any legislative or other recommendations which the Secretary may have to help attain such goals. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary shall initiate research or accelerate 42 USC 9003. existing research in areas in which the lack of knowledge limits development of ocean thermal energy conversion systems in order to achieve the purposes of this Act. (b) The Secretary shall conduct evaluations, arrange for tests, and disseminate to developers information, data, and materials necessary to support the design efforts undertaken pursuant to section 5, Specific technical areas to be addressed shall include, but not be limited to— (1) interface requirements between the platform and cold water pipe; (2) cold water pipe deployment techniques; (3) heat exchangers; (4) control system simulation; (5) stationkeeping requirements; and (6) energy delivery systems, such as electric cable or energy product transport. (c) The Secretary shall, for the purpose of performing his reponsibilities pursuant to this Act, solicit proposals and evaluate any reasonable new or improved technology, a description of which is submitted to the Secretary in writing, which could lead or contribute to the development of ocean thermal energy conversion system technology. PILOT AND DEMONSTRATION PLANTS

SEC. 5. (a) The Secretary is authorized to initiate a program to 42 USC 9004. design, construct, and operate well instrumented ocean thermal energy conversion facilities of sufficient size to demonstrate the technical feasibility and potential economic feasibility of utilizing the various forms of ocean thermal energy conversion to displace nonrenewable fuels. To achieve the goals of this section and to facilitate development of a strong industrial basis for the application of ocean thermal energy conversion system technology, at least two independent parallel demonstration projects shall be competitively selected. (b) The specific goals of the demonstration program shall include at a minimum— (1) the demonstration of ocean thermal energy conversion technical feasibility through multiple pilot and demonstration plants with a combined capacity of at least one hundred megawatts of electrical capacity or energy product equivalent by the year 1986; (2) the delivery of baseload electricity to utilities located on land or the production of commercially attractive quantities of energy product; and (3) the continuous operation of each pilot and demonstration facility for a sufficient period of time to collect and analyze system performance and reliability data. (c) In providing any financial assistance under this section, the Secretary shall (1) give full consideration to those projects which will

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