U.S.-based marine energy firm Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has nearly hit 15 MWh of renewable energy production from its family of PowerBuoys (PBs) across the globe.
Energy generation numbers are drawn from deployments in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, and North Sea, said OPT. Launching the “next generation” PB off the New Jersey coast increased energy production by merging solar, wind, and wave power.
These deployments arose from a blend of renewable energy investments from government-supported development programs and commercial leases and sales, serving clients like ENI, EGP, Office of Naval Research, and the DeepStar consortium comprising Chevron, CNOOC, Equinor, ExxonMobil, JX Nippon, Occidental, PetroBras, Shell, and Woodside.
According to OPT, the company has demonstrated and delivered use cases in anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and conducting environmental sensing.
“These numbers show that non-grid connected marine energy production is not just for the R&D community, but is a commercially available solution,” said Philipp Stratmann , CEO and President of OPT.
“Charging USVs, monitoring the marine environment, including during whale migration season, and supporting the defense and security industry is all possible. We have worked with customers in defense, offshore wind, oil and gas, and general ocean sciences and look forward to announcing more deployments.”
OPT’s PBs are wave energy devices that can act as an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) that recharge themselves by harvesting energy from waves. PBs are ocean-deployed, moored, and floating over the point of use.
Regarding the recent activities of OPT and its PBs, in December 2023 the company won a letter contract with a $6.5 million ceiling for its wave-powered buoys to bolster maritime domain awareness for us government agencies.
The collaboration between OPT and the prime contractor will focus on providing multidomain marine solutions supporting US government agencies.