U.S. TECHNOLOGY, IRISH WAVES & JOBS

US group offers to meet State's wave energy targets
Frank McDonald, May 11, 2010 (Irish Times)

"A US renewable energy company [Ocean Power Technologies (OPT)] is proposing to meet the [Irish] Government’s target of generating 500 megawatts of electricity from ocean energy systems by 2020…[I]t would have the potential to create “tens of thousands of jobs” in Ireland as all the hardware required for marine turbines would be manufactured here.

"The wave power systems to be installed at an undisclosed location on the west coast would be produced by OPT, a Nasdaq and AIM-listed company that specialises in wave energy using its proprietary PowerBuoy device…[OPT has been working on wave energy] since 1997, when it installed its first buoy off the coast of New Jersey. The next two were installed in Hawaii at a US naval base…The two 40-kilowatt buoys were each 30 metres tall…and stood in 50 metres of water, tethered to the seabed…"

Ready for prime time (and mass production). (click to enlarge)

"OPT [is] now building a 150-kilowatt buoy in the Orkney Islands and…carrying out further tests off the coast of Spain, while a 2-megawatt installation would be completed off the coast of Oregon by the end of this year…

"…[An Irish OPT investor has] toured the west coast of Ireland looking for suitable sites and selected three based on their [access] to the electricity grid… OPT would have the capacity to install a 40-megawatt wave turbine but plans to start with a 5-megawatt wave energy device, as this could proceed without delay under the terms set by the Commission for Electricity Regulation."

Look at that resource! (click to enlarge)

"…[OPT is also] holding talks with Irish foundries over building all of the devices it would need to meet… the Government’s target of 500-megawatts for ocean power. This would involve constructing 1,000 40-megawatt buoys…[at an expense of] about a $2 billion number” (€1.54 billion)… This would create “tens of thousands of jobs” in construction and even more indirectly…[if Ireland can provide a] streamlined approval process…

"There would also be a need for OPT to find suitable partners in Ireland, such as electricity suppliers, State agencies…[and banks]…"