 Though no large scale physical environmental testing of OTEC has been done, computer models have been developed to simulate the effect of OTEC plants.In 2010, a computer model was developed to simulate the physical oceanographic effects of one or several 100 megawatt OTEC plant(s).The model suggests that OTEC plants can be configured such that the plant can conduct continuous operations, with resulting temperature and nutrient variations that are within naturally occurring levels.