OPT delays Reedsport wave energy project

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To the disappointment of some wave energy enthusiasts, Ocean Power Technologies won't be deploying its first buoy off the coast of Oregon this year.

Wave energy enthusiasts eager to see Ocean Power Technologies deploy its first power-generating buoy off the coast of Reedsport will wait a little longer. The project has been delayed for further testing of the technology.

A second-generation product from OPT, the non-hydraulic buoy is expected to be built by the end of the year. The 200-ton buoy is currently in the hands of Oregon Iron Works.

If construction of the buoy keeps on schedule, it would deploy when weather and water conditions allow, likely in summer of 2012.

OPT is fresh off a successful deployment of its first-generation device in Scotland, but hurdles are left to clear before anything happens off the coast of Oregon.

Bob Lurie, vice president of North America for business development at Ocean Power Technologies (Nasdaq: OPTT), said OPT is looking past the initial buoy deployment in Reedsport and focused on raising capital to expand to 10 buoys in the next phase of the project. That build-out hinges on a FERC license to connect to the grid, also being pursued, and likely to be finalized within the year.

Lurie said OPT’s push for capital would help retain jobs at four Oregon companies that won contracts to both build and deploy its buoys: Sause Brothers in Coos Bay, for towing and deployment maintenance; American Bridge in Reedsport for work on OPT’s anchoring system; Oregon Iron Works, which employs 35 for buoy construction; and Vigor Industrial for final assembly of the buoys’ largest pieces.

“That momentum can only be maintained if we move on to the next construction phase,” he said. “We’re building this brand new technology and like any new technology it's been a process and we're trying to be very cautious about testing and retesting and retesting it because we want to make sure that by the time it gets in the water, it works.”

Bob Sabala, the general manager of Douglas Electric Cooperative, the interconnecting utility on the project, said the caution shown by OPT was appropriate.

“Our view is that you need to get it right before you put it out in the ocean so if you need to delay, delay it. It's going to be a lot tougher to fix any problem they have to fix once it's out in the ocean,” he said. While the world is watching, he added it’s important for emerging wave companies to succeed in trial projects.

As new technologies continue to emerge and entrepreneurs hunt for capital to support them, Oregon continues to attract interest from wave developers keen to take advantage of its optimal wave power conditions, attributable to the force of the waves, topography of the sea floor, and open transmission lines along the shore that once supported the timber industry.

Wave power companies showcased their ideas at the 2011 conference of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust at the Oregon Convention Center earlier this month.

Jason Busch, executive director of OWET, said curious entrepreneurs arrived from around the world, including Hann-Ocean of Singapore and a delegation from South America to showcase products and learn more about offerings in Oregon. The conference also attracted the energetic entrepreneurs of up-and-coming Portugal-based EMOVE. The young team’s BluSphere technology recently attracted powerhouse green investor Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic. The company is temporarily stationed in California and, Busch said, likely to return to Oregon with their low-impact, high generating wave energy concept is the next few years.

Busch said the importance of looking to well-established companies like General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Google and others to make investments in the renewable sector was frequently discussed at this year’s event.

“These companies are sitting on a tremendous amount of money and everybody knows it,” Busch said. He pointed to Google’s recent $5 billion investment in Atlantic wind transmission, and other moves toward renewable energy by Lockheed Martin and General Electric as evidence the next investments in wave tech are likely to come from the private sector.

With federal Department of Energy grants sputtering through the recession and dry until at least 2012, entrepreneurs are shifting focus toward private investors.

Lee van der Voo, lvdvoo*at*gmail.com, is a freelance writer for Sustainable Business Oregon.