Ocean Power Technologies Inc. announced Tuesday a $125,000 contract award from the United States Navy to develop a buoy mooring system.
“We’re very excited for this Phase I award by the U.S. Navy to develop a fiber optic mooring line which may be used for both defense and commercial applications. We believe that this new contract award further validates our technical expertise and experience with ocean energy systems and could also lead to additional future contract awards where we might utilize OPT technologies which are already in advanced stages of development.
“To date, OPT has earned 28 U.S. government awards, including eight Phase I awards, which led to five Phase II efforts and 15 Phase III efforts, all related to marine systems and applications. We welcome the opportunity that this new contract brings, and this award now allows us to immediately bid on a Phase II contract,” George Kirby, CEO of Ocean Power Technologies, said.
OPT, which is based in Monroe Township, said the contract also has additional options for a total potential value of $225,000.
The buoy system, OPT said, will incorporate fiber optics for the transmission of subsea sensor data to airplanes, ships and satellites. Additionally, the concepts developed under this contract can be incorporated into OPT’s PowerBuoy and Subsea Battery Module products.
“OPT has a long work history on Department of Defense projects,” Kirby said. “Our most recent government effort has been around advancing our anchorless PowerBuoy design, and we’re nearing the prototype stage. The anchorless PowerBuoy design is very encouraging to our customers due to its innovative and patented approach to power generation and also the need for a quick-deploy solution throughout markets such as defense and offshore oil and gas.”
