OPT receives key FERC license for Reedsport wave energy project
By Erik Siemers
Managing editor
Ocean Power Technologies is moving closer to deployment of a test wave power buoy off the Oregon Coast at Reedsport.
Ocean Power Technologies Inc. on Monday said it has received a key license from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its proposed 1.5-megawatt wave energy park off the coast of Reedsport.
The project becomes the first wave power station to be issued a license by FERC, according to New Jersey-based Ocean Power (NASDAQ: OPTT).
FERC’s approval of a 35-year license for a grid-connected wave energy facility is considered a key regulatory benchmark. OPT plans to deploy up to 10 of its power-generating buoys, each of which could power around 1,000 homes.
In June the company announced that it had completed testing on its first power buoy, which is being built by Clackamas-based Oregon Iron Works and is expected to be deployed 2.5 miles off the coast of Reedsport later this year. The first buoy has received financial backing from the U.S. Department of Energy and electric cooperative PNGC Power.
“The issuance of this license by FERC is an important milestone for the U.S. wave energy industry as well as for OPT,” Charles F. Dunleavy, Ocean Power’s CEO, said in a news release. “The 35-year term of the license demonstrates the commercial potential of wave power, and this will support initiatives to secure financing for the project.”
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