Ocean Power Technologies has signed two contracts with Enel Green Power Chile together worth $1.9m, including one for the PB3 PowerBuoy wave energy device.
OPT will provide Enel Green Power Chile with a PB3 PowerBuoy (pictured) along with associated mooring system.
It will deliver turnkey system deployment off the coast of Las Cruces setting up an autonomous offshore platform powering a suite of oceanographic sensors and transmitting real-time data back to land.
The scope of the agreement is in support of the Marine Energy Research and Innovation Center (MERIC) project, an initiative that aims to diversify Chile’s energy mix.
The second contract will see OPT develop and supply a turnkey integrated Open Sea Lab (OSL).
The OSL encompasses a sensor suite to be powered by the PB3 PowerBuoy, as well as an integrated shore-based wave radar system.
The sensor platform will comprise an acoustic doppler current profiler, a device which is used to measure water current velocities over a depth range, water sensors, and mooring load sensors.
Deployment of the OSL is expected within the first half of 2020.
Enel Green Power Chile head Valter Moro said: “Enel Green Power is working to explore and develop the marine energy technology segment in Chile, and the purchase of the PB3 PowerBuoy is a significant milestone towards this aim.
“With this new device, and our continued involvement with MERIC, we remain committed to expanding our knowhow and advancing this frontier in renewable generation.”