Veteran Energy Industry Executive Joins Board of Directors
As Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation Expands Global Operations In Clean Energy & Potable Water Production
Lancaster, PA, USA – March 19, 2012 – Frank E. DiCola, P.E., President, CEO and founder of DCO Energy LLC, has been appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors of Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation (OTE Corporation). Mr. DiCola led DCO Energy from a single project in development in 2000 with 5 employees to a Company with over 200 employees and sales in excess of $250,000,000 per year.
During this period, DCO assets and work expanded through a combination of project developments and construction projects, which range from Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects to Renewable Generation Assets to District Energy Systems. DCO also provides third party Engineer, Procure and Construction (EPC) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) work for the Power Industry. Mr. DiCola is a registered professional engineer and a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with over 41 years’ experience in the energy management field.
Based in Mays Landing, New Jersey, Mr. DiCola will help lead OTE Corporation with his extensive experience related to strategic planning, project development, project management, engineering, construction, project financing, as well as legal and regulatory management. “It is with great enthusiasm that I join the OTE team and support its core mission of providing clean energy and potable water across the globe,” said Mr. DiCola. Jeremy P. Feakins, OTE Corporation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted: “We are indeed pleased to have someone of Frank’s stature in the energy field as a member of OTE’s leadership. As we rapidly expand our global operations to meet the increasing demands for clean energy and potable water, Frank DiCola will be an invaluable asset in bringing Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion to the world.”
Demonstrated to be technically feasible in the 1990s at the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) uses the natural temperature gradient of the world’s tropical oceans to produce clean baseload (24/7) electricity, without the use of fossil fuels. Though proven 20 years ago, OTEC has not been ripe for commercialization until recently. Now, however, three factors have coalesced to provide appropriate market conditions. First, sustained high oil prices have made OTEC electricity pricing increasingly competitive, particularly in many remote tropical island communities where transportation costs to import oil are extremely high. Second, technical advances in the off-shore oil industry in the last two decades, many of which are applicable to deep cold water pipe technology for OTEC, have resulted in greatly reduced capital costs for construction of OTEC plants. Third, as awareness of global warming has increased substantially, many governments have adopted aggressive renewable energy goals, making OTEC more desirable and competitive. The attractiveness of base-load (24/7) OTEC electricity is further enhanced when contrasted with intermittent renewable energy alternatives such as wind and solar.
OTEC has additional important advantages including the production of limitless, clean, fresh drinking water. A 10-megawatt plant could produce millions of gallons of potable water per day from nutrient-rich, pathogen-free ocean water. OTEC also provides sustainable aquaculture and mariculture opportunities to farm a number of cold-water species of seafood. In addition to developing OTEC plants, OTE Corporation also develops Sea Water District Cooling (SDC) facilities, using deep cold water to air-condition large structures, saving its customers up to 90% electricity usage when compared to conventional air-conditioning.
Based on its proprietary power cycle and plant designs, OTE Corporation offers a range of innovative products and services, as described above. With offices in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Hawaii and The Bahamas, The Company, tracing its roots to 1988, has a multidisciplinary team of experienced corporate executives, scientists and ocean engineers, together with strong strategic corporate alliances, enabling it to provide solutions to address today’s toughest energy, resource and environmental problems.
Notes to Editors: Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation (‘OTE’) is an international renewable energy and resource company using ocean thermal energy conversion (‘OTEC’) to develop land-based power plants for the production of low-cost clean electricity and potable water.
