Senior OTEC Scientist and Engineering Consultant – Luis A. Vega holds degrees in Applied Mathematics, Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering and Applied Ocean Sciences from the US Naval Academy (B.S.), CALTECH (M.S.) and the University of California at San Diego (Ph.D.). His professional experience ranges from analytical studies to laboratory scale and model basin tests as well as at-sea tests of marine renewable energy equipment. He led the team that designed and tested two Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) experimental plants (210 kW OC-OTEC and 50 kW CC-OTEC) demonstrating 24/7 production of electricity and desalinated-water and obtaining operational data required for estimating realistic costs of production. He has also worked in electrification of remote villages in South Pacific Island Nations utilizing solar and wind resources and establishing a Rural Energy Service Company in the nation of Fiji.
Previously, he managed the Hawaii National Marine Renewable Energy Center
(HINMREC) at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) of the University of Hawaii.
HINMREC supports the US Navy at the Wave Energy Test Site located at Marine Corps
Base Hawaii (MCBH) in facilitating the development and implementation of commercial
wave energy systems. Another objective of HINMREC is to assist the private sector
move ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems beyond proof-of-concept to
pre-commercialization.
