In a first-of-its-kind venture, a one-megawatt (mw) Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plant is being established off the Tuticorin coast in Tamil Nadu. The project, being undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), seeks to convert thermal energy from the ocean into electricity. To produce this energy, the plant will use the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep seawater. It would generate electricity using the Rankine cycle, a thermodynamic cycle used to generate electricity, with ammonia as the working fluid. Once the desired results are achieved, larger plants of 20-mw capacity would come up, he added.