The US government has today stepped up its support for wave energy technologies with the award of a $1.5m (£0.97m) grant to marine energy specialist Ocean Power Technologies (OPT).
The Department of Energy funding will be used to examine ways to boost the power output of OPT's PowerBuoy wave power system from its current level of 150kW. The company is aiming to produce a 500kW system and the grant will boost its plan to produce commercial-scale wave energy generators.
At the same time, development efforts will focus on improving the power extraction efficiency of the wave power system and on developing a " Design-for-Manufacture" approach to lower installed capital costs for the technology.
The grant was issued to OPT under a competitive process, as the DoE looks to increase the commercial viability, market acceptance and environmental performance of marine and hydrokinetic technologies.
OPT said that under the rules of the grant the research project will be performed on an equal cost-sharing basis over a two-year period.
This is the second Department of Energy award presented to OPT in two years. In 2008, the company received $2m to provide funding for the construction of a PB150 PowerBuoy to be deployed at Reedsport in Oregon.
Charles F. Dunleavy, chief executive officer of OPT, welcomed the latest funding, adding that the company's "programme of work under this award is in accord with the Department of Energy’s objectives to increase the use of domestic marine resources for electric power generation and to enhance energy security, while improving the environment."
OPT's technology works by attaching to the ocean floor a buoy that rises and falls with the motion of the waves, driving a turbine that generates electricity. The resulting power is transmitted to land via a sub-sea cable.
The company is dual listed on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange's Alterna tive Investment Market (AIM), and has established itself as one of the leading players in the emerging market for marine technologies with pilot projects underway in Scotland, Hawaii and Australia.
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