Ocean Power Technologies has completed its largest and most powerful wave power device to date, the PB150 PowerBuoy.
With a peak-rated power output of 150kW, equivalent to the energy consumption of about 150 homes, the PB150 is designed for use in arrays for grid-connected power generation projects.
The device, with a low visual profile, as most of the structure is submerged, has been built and assembled at Invergordon, Scotland, and is expected to have minimal environmental impact.
Currently, PowerBuoy is being prepared for ocean trials at a site about 33 nautical miles from Invergordon.
The firm is seeking additional financing for the commercial utilisation of the buoy following the trials.
A second PB150 is also under construction in the US for a proposed utility-scale project in Oregon, US.
The ocean trials off Scotland have been approved by the Scottish Government.
OPT CEO Charles Dunleavy said that the completion of the first PB150 in the UK is a major engineering achievement for OPT and also begins an important new chapter in the firm’s commercialisation strategy.
