Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has completed the stage gate review of its PB3 PowerBuoy ahead of shipment to Japan.
The completion of the pre-requisite stage gate review has cleared the way for OPT to deliver the PB3 wave energy device to Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (MES), under a $975,000 lease contract the companies signed back in June.
The buoy is expected to be deployed for six months off Kozu island, Japan, starting from March 2017, according to OPT.
The US-based wave energy developer, OPT, also informed it has validated the operational performance for two PB3 PowerBuoys, currently deployed off the New Jersey coast.
The company has also made progress on the power take-off (PTO) accelerated life testing, achieving over 48 million cumulative strokes.
The two deployed PowerBuoys will undergo their planned recoveries in the coming months, weather permitting, after which they will be inspected and prepared for future deployments, including the lease for MES, OPT said.