This part of IEC 62600 establishes general principles for design assessment of OTEC plants. The goal is to describe the design and assessment requirements of OTEC plants used for stable power generation under various conditions. This electricity may be used for utility supply or production of other energy carriers. The intended audience is developers, engineers, bankers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, finance authorities and regulators.

This document is applicable to land-based (i.e. onshore), shelf-mounted (i.e. nearshore seabed mounted) and floating OTEC systems. For land-based systems the scope of this document ends at the main power export cable suitable for connection to the grid. For shelf-mounted and floating systems, the scope of this document normally ends at the main power export cable where it connects to the electrical grid.

This document is general and focuses on the OTEC specific or unique components of the power plant, particularly the marine aspects of the warm and cold water intake systems. Other established standards are referenced to address common components between the OTEC system and other types of power plants and floating, deep water oil and gas production vessels, such as FPSOs and FLNG systems. Relevant standards are listed within this document as appropriate.

The flow diagram, shown in Figure 5, illustrates the main design process associated with floating, shelf-mounted or land-based OTEC systems.