Ocean Power Technologies has installed one of its PowerBuoy wave power generation units near Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
This is the third PowerBuoy to be deployed by OPT over the past two months at sites in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Deployment of the PowerBuoy was supported by Hawaiian diver and workboat subcontractors. The PowerBuoy is located approximately one mile off the coast, in 100 feet of water. Compact and modular in design, the system resembles an ocean-going buoy and is less than 12 feet in diameter and 55 feet long.
The Oahu PowerBuoy was launched under the company's ongoing programme with the US Navy for installation of PowerBuoys off Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay and will be connected to the Oahu power grid. Further, the US Navy has added $300,000 in funding for this programme to provide for extended operation of the PowerBuoy system.
The power produced has been in accord with OPT's predictive models, and is undergoing continuous monitoring at OPT's Pennington, New Jersey facilities, 5,000 miles away from the PowerBuoy in Hawaii. The monitoring includes real-time receipt of data via radio link and Internet-based communications, from the many on-board sensors.
Previously, the OPT wave power project at Oahu underwent an extensive environmental assessment by an independent engineering company in accordance with the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA).
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