UTILITY PARTNERS FOR WAVE ENERGY TEST

FERC's permitting process is finally allowing the Sleeping Giant of New Energy to begin its rise.

PNGC Power to fund wave energy device
August 21, 2007 (Portland Business Journal)

WHO
Ocean Power Technologies Inc. (OPT), PNGC Power

The buoy in question. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
PNGC Power, an electric cooperative, will provide funds for the fabrication and installation of a wave energy device at an OPT site.

WHEN
The OPT/PNGC agreement was announced August 20.

WHERE
PNGC Power is based in Portland, Oregon, and serves 7 western states. The device it is funding will be at the Reedsport OPT Wave Park. OPT is based in Pennington, New Jersey.

Artist's rendering: Field of Energy. (click to enlarge)

WHY
- PNGC will provide $500,000 for the first Reedsport device, an OPT buoy with a 150-kilowatt capacity. The power generated will be derived from the buoy’s up and down movement on the ocean’s waves.
- This first buoy will be followed by an OPT 2-megawatt installation 2.5 miles off Reedsport, in anticipation of the 50-megawatt installation permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
- PNGC and OPT are working with FERC to develop infrastructure to move wave energy electricity to the coastal power grid.

QUOTES
OPT website: “Every continent on the planet is surrounded by a cleaner, safer, more efficient answer to our energy needs. The power in ocean waves.”

Discovery Channel video of an OPT buoy installation.