Ocean Power Technologies Launches Key Project in Fiscal First-Quarter 2014, Says More to Come Overseas

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ocean Power Technologies Incorporated (NASDAQ:OPTT) (OPT) (Pennington, New Jersey), which designs and produces wave-energy devices for the renewable power sector, continued to make progress on several key projects during the first quarter of the company's 2014 fiscal year, including the launch of a surveillance project in New Jersey backed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The company reported a net loss of $3.75 million for the quarter, compared with a new loss of $4.34 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013.

Total revenues stood at $460,927, a 53.08% decrease from the same period last year; OPT cited a drop in external funding for the Mark 4 PowerBouy development project, as well as weaker revenues from the PowerBouy project in Reedsport, Oregon, which is facing a series of delays. Net losses were lower due in part to lower product development costs.

Among the major achievements for OPT in the first quarter was the launch of the enhanced Autonomous PowerBouy (APT-350) 35 miles of the coast of New Jersey in August. The project, which is part of a "Cooperative Research and Development Agreement" with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate, includes a new acoustic sonar system that boosts its capacity for expanded ocean technology surveillance. OPT also was awarded two grants from the U.S. Department of Energy: a $150,000 grant to study advanced control technologies for OPT's next-generation PowerBouy, and a $1 million grant to assist in designing the PowerBouy's float and spar.

OPT executives said that the company's backlog at the end of the second quarter stood at $3.5 million. They expect to recognize the majority of the backlog as revenues over a period of more than a year.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $1 billion in projects involving OPT, including the $600 million construction of the Coos Bay Wave Park in North Bend, Oregon. The project, still in the planning phase, involves constructing a grassroot wave energy plant that will utilize the PB500 Wave Energy PowerBuoys Technology to provide renewable energy to the grid. The capacity is expected to be between 50 and 100 megawatts.

"Autonomous PowerBouys continue to be a major focus for OPT, and not just in the areas of national defense," said Charles Dunleavy, the chief executive officer of OPT, in a conference call. "They also provide consisted off-grid clean energy in remote ocean locations, for applications such as offshore oil & gas operations and fish farming. We believe these additional market opportunities to be significant, and a key differentiator for our product is that the APB-350 is designed to provide consistent power in all wave conditions, while maintaining a fixed ocean-site position."

In Spain, OPT and its WavePort consortium partners recently began final assembly on a PowerBouy that includes an enhanced energy conversion system, with a new wave prediction model and an advanced modular power take-off. OPT executives also say that the company's opportunities in Australia and Japan are expanding; for more information, see September 12, 2013, article - Tenax Energy's Clarence Strait Tidal Project in Australia Awaits Environmental Approvals.

"We've completed a contract from Mitsui for the initial analysis and design work on PowerBouy enhancements for improved power capture in Japanese sea conditions," Dunleavy said in the conference call. "We're working with Mitsui on developing the next steps for ocean trials for the demonstration PowerBouy system. These discussions include reviews of business opportunities that could lead more rapidly to commercialization in Japan. Mitsui and OPT believe there is significant market opportunity--one that could certainly benefit from our leading-edge PowerBouy technology."

For more information, visit Industrial Info's North American Renewable Energy Project Database.

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