The Union Cabinet of India has approved India’s membership in the International Energy Agency – Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES).
The nodal agency for the membership would be Earth System Science Organisation – National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, according to the Indian government.
By becoming a member of the IEA-OES, India will gain access to advanced R&D teams and technologies across the world.
“India will partner in developing test protocols along with other countries. This will help in testing Indian prototypes as per international requirements and norms. Joint cooperative programs with institutes of member countries could be taken up. India’s own research projects with specific targets can be taken up in conjunction with other countries,” India government’s press release reads.
In the Indian context designing of scaled up ocean energy devices, including wave, currents and tidal, and their techno-commercial viability needs to be undertaken.
Tropical countries have high sea surface temperatures and hence Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a good option for countries like India.
OES is an intergovernmental collaboration between countries operating under framework established by the International Energy Agency in Paris.