Ocean Power Technologies

This is one renewable energy company you want to keep a close eye on.

Based out of Monroe Township, NJ they are pioneering the renewable ocean energy market. By developing technology utilizing the vast ocean currents they can then store this power for later use.

 

Considering this promising technology we may see a shift to renewables that are mainly on our coasts. This could in the future replace oil rigs which have the potential to cause major damage to our oceans and marine life.

 

 

They recently announced a proposed contract with the US Navy.  Interest among the PB3 PowerBuoy as well as 5G communications is growing among the military. According to the dod website this type of technology allows for further research in unmanned and robotic systems. 

Products Include:

• Grid-connected utility market, currently the Mark 3 PowerBuoy.
• Devices for the Autonomous market requiring lower levels of power for deep-ocean applications such as maritime security and homeland defense, offshore oil and gas operations, aquaculture and oceanographic data sampling. The company’s PowerBuoy in ratings of 2 kilowatt to 40 kilowatt is ideal for these applications, including the LEAP autonomous PowerBuoy sold to the US Navy.
• Infrastructure products and services - cable installations, grid interconnection, permitting and site development, including the company’s Undersea Substation Pod product, available to all companies in the marine energy sector.
• Undersea Substation Pod - Device for aggregating diverse power generation devices and supplying an interface with onshore power distribution.

Projects

1. LEAP Autonomous PowerBuoy, New Jersey, USA ^[2][3] - O.P.T. has successfully operated a system off New Jersey, designed and manufactured by O.P.T. under the US Navy’s Littoral Expeditionary Autonomous PowerBuoy (LEAP) program for coastal security and maritime surveillance.
2. Coos Bay, Oregon, USA ^[4]- O.P.T. has proposed a utility-scale, commercial wave park in North America at Coos Bay, Oregon. The planned size of this park is up to 100 megawatts, and it will be the largest wave energy project in the world when completed.
3. Reedsport, Oregon, USA^[5][6] - O.P.T. is developing a commercial wave park on the west coast of the United States located 2.5 miles offshore near Reedsport, Oregon. The first phase of this project is for ten PB150 PowerBuoys, or 1.5 megawatts. Due to legal and technical problems, this project has now ground to a halt, August 2013.^[7]
4. Santoña, Spain^[8][9] - In July 2006, O.P.T. formed a joint venture with Iberdrola S.A., global oil major TOTAL, the Spanish Government IDAE (Institute of Energy Savings and Efficiency), and the local regional development agency SODERCAN, for the turnkey construction of a wave farm off the North coast of Spain. OPT has been awarded funding by the European Union to deploy a PowerBuoy at the Santoña site developed by the joint venture.
5. Cornwall, England, UK^[10][11] - O.P.T. aims to develop its wave power generation technology at Wave Hub, a renewable energy project off Cornwall in the South West of England, expected to create the UK's first offshore facility for the demonstration and proving of arrays of wave energy generation devices. In 2018 Wave Hub plans to diversify to wind power, as wave projects have been shelved,^[12] though Marine Power Systems was testing a generator in 2017,^[13] which was put in place in 2018.^[14]
6. Portland, Victoria, Australia^[15] - Ocean Power Technologies Australasia Pty Ltd, as part of Victorian Wave Partners is developing a 19 megawatts wave power station connected to the grid near Portland, Victoria. The project has an offer of an AU$66.46 million grant from the Federal Government of Australia.