Ocean Power Technologies, whose wave power technology is brilliantly realized in their utility-scale PowerBuoy® wave generation system, was quite pleased to announce reception of a major contract today with a top Japanese engineering company that really has the pull, as well as the sea legs needed to act as a transformative industry influence in this area, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (MES). Valued at $2.6M, this contract covers the final design and component aspects for a PowerBuoy system that is going in off the coast and which will demonstrate the efficacy of this technology in helping to satisfy the Japanese Environment Minister’s strategic intention to increase the nation’s renewable energy inputs by as much as six times in the coming years.
In fact, wave energy has been specifically earmarked by the Japanese government as a primary component of their renewables policy, and they have targeted around 1.5k MW of new wave and tidal generation capacity by 2030. Hirotaka Ohashi, Deputy Director of Business Development and Innovation Hq. for MES, referencing the 2011 earthquake and subsequently devastating impact to Japan’s nuclear industry and energy market, recently assured investors that the company would be working hand-in-hand with OPTT to commercialize this revolutionary generation tech and emphasized his respect for the position the PowerBuoy already holds within the market. Bold words from such an eminent engineering firm with an established track record in ship/ocean systems and a strong endorsement in general for the success of this partnership, especially considering the many years of collaborative work already built up between the two companies. MES will be in charge of doing the requisite moorings and the actual deployment of the system.
This latest contract is a natural progression from the previously announced preliminary design and development work that was done earlier in the year and the contract is provided under the (Oct 24) cooperation agreement aimed at bringing the technology to fruition in Japan, as well as six other international markets. Key objectives of the new contract will be to test out the core structural element of the PowerBuoy, the spar, against the specific conditions of the target environment and to finalize its design, as well as that of the power take-off component which houses the generator and main electronics.
Once tweaked for Japanese wave conditions, this design (which can automatically shut itself off into a fixed lockout mode using onboard sensors arrays in the event of extremely large waves) will serve as a platform for rolling out commercial-scale ocean trials later on and paving the way for wave power utilities. Estimates are set for March of 2015 to complete this latest phase of work and a deployment phase should commence almost immediately thereafter.
CEO of OPTT, Charles F. Dunleavy, hailed this next important step on the road to commercial-scale wave power for the Japanese as a real boon for the nation and underscored the significance of the tight-knit relationship between OPTT and MES, both in Japan and now in several other countries as well. Dunleavy also expressed supreme confidence in the world-class fabrication facilities and experience possessed by MES, assuring investors that the majority of PowerBuoy system components, which are set to be manufactured by Mitsui in Japan, will meet with the company’s exacting specifications.
The simple, rugged steel construction of the PowerBuoy and its low surface profile (almost invisible from shore), combined with the product’s ability to utilize conventional mooring systems, makes it a highly scalable (buoys are distributed across an area at intervals like gas wells for maximum efficiency) and attractive solution that could make 100+ MW wave energy utility stations a prominent piece of the global energy puzzle.
Learn more by visiting Ocean Power Technologies at www.OceanPowerTechnologies.com
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