Under this new contract, the two companies will work together to develop a new mooring system for OPT’s PowerBuoy, customized for wave power stations off the coast of Japan. The new system will undergo testing at MES’s wave tank facilities to verify the results of extensive computer modelling. OPT expects to receive 18 million yen (approximately $220,000) for its development efforts. Work under this agreement is expected to be performed over the next six months.
In October 2009, it was announced that OPT and a consortium of Mitsui, Idemitsu Kosan Co., and Japan Wind Development Co. had signed an MOU for the development of wave energy in Japan. OPT and members of the Consortium have since worked with the Japanese government to increase recognition of wave power in Japanese energy policy. Further building on the MOU, OPT and Mitsui intend to complete work on the mooring system and progress the identification of a project site for an in-ocean trial of the PowerBuoy system.
“We are very pleased to continue to build on our relationship with MES,” said Charles F. Dunleavy, CEO of OPT. “This new agreement is consistent with OPT’s global strategy to form alliances with strategic partners in key markets. We believe working with MES will facilitate the realization of the great potential of wave power as a concentrated and predictable source of renewable energy for Japan.”
The Japanese government has pledged to target a 25% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020 as part of its intentions to boost renewable energy sources to about 10% of primary energy supply by 2020. The Japanese government has specifically targeted wave energy as a component of this strategy.
