OPT plans to use the first award of $2.4m in connection with the construction and deployment of one of its PB150 PowerBuoys at Reedsport, Oregon, as part of the first proposed commercial wave power project in the US.
Deployment of the 150kW peak-rated PB150, which is currently under construction, is expected to occur in 2011.
The second award is also for $2.4m and it is intended to be used for the design and development of OPT’s next generation 500kW PowerBuoy wave power system, the PB500.
The technology development will focus on increasing the PB500’s power extraction efficiency, implementing a ‘design-for-manufacture’ approach, the company said.
