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Eco Investor August 2015 Unlisted Companies Ocean Power Technologies Deploys BuoyThe much troubled Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. has begun to make operational progress again with the successful deployment of a PB40 PowerBuoy off the coast of New Jersey on the US east coast. The company said the deployment is its first since late 2013 and is a critical step in its efforts to commercialize its wave energy technology. The PB40 PowerBuoy weighs 130 tons, is 33.5 metres in length, and operates in 45 metres or more of water. New design features include a high voltage electric power generation, distribution and management system, and an advanced energy storage system to provide autonomous power for offshore applications. The PB40 is permited to operate at the location for one year, during which performance and wave data will be collected and transmitted to its monitoring and analysis center at OPT headquarters in Pennington, NJ. The buoy will further validate the logistical processes associated with permiting, staging, and buoy towing to its mooring location about 30 nautical miles southeast of the New York City Harbor, and will provide key performance data to help accelerate product commercialization and technology development efforts. The project has support from the US Department of Energy and the European Union. President and chief executive of OPT, George H. Kirby, said the deployment of the buoy is the culmination of the tremendous effort of the entire OPT team and that the assessment of the buoy's performance will provide an important step in furthering discussions with customers in target markets. "Our goal is to bring reliable, cost-effective offshore power solutions to markets that will provide viable alternatives to higher-cost solutions and enable many new customer applications that are currently not available," he said. As part of its strategic pivot towards key autonomous offshore commercial applications and markets, OPT also anticipates deploying its APB350 A1 PowerBuoy later this northern summer and is readying its APB350 A2 PowerBuoy for deployment by the end of calendar 2015. Mr Kirby said OPT is continuing to make significant progress on its commercial generation APB350 A2 PowerBuoy, and has begun development of the PB10 PowerBuoy, both of which are critical parts of its overall commercialization strategy. The A2 design includes an optimized hull geometry for improved wave energy extraction as well as reduced fabrication, transportation and deployment costs. The PB10 will provide significantly more power generation capacity with a nominal increase in weight for applications that require greater power. OPT is a pre-revenue business. (Nasdaq: OPTT)
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