OPT buoys signal arrival of wave power

By David Blackwell
Published: October 2 2008 22:21

Ocean Power Technologies, one of the first renewable energy companies to join Aim, is to install its first 150kW power buoy off the coast of Oregon in the US.
The news comes only 10 days after it deployed its first 40kW power buoy off the northern coast of Spain under its contract with Iberdrola.
Power buoys are designed to harness wave motion to generate electricity. The company has a long-standing deal with the US Navy, which intends to draw power from an OPT system for its base in Hawaii. An increase in the amount of work being carried out in Hawaii helped the company to report this month that first-quarter revenues had more than trebled to $1.8m (£1m).
The US Department of Energy has awarded a $2m (£1.1m) grant to help fund the fabrication, assembly and factory testing of the buoy in Oregon. It is the first such award by the DoE and the company believes it signals increasing US recognition of wave energy.
The buoy is expected to be ready for installation 2½ miles off the coast near Reedsport in the second half of next year.
In 2010 another nine buoys are expected to be added, to form a 1.5MW site. The company expects the power installation to provide “important operating and environmental data for the future development of wave energy” on the west coast of the US.
In Spain, the company is building the world’s first commercial wave power station.
The shares rose 10p to 382½p.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008