Wave power station approved that will one day power 1,000 Oregon homes

Ocean Power Technologies Inc. (OPT), Pennington, N.J., announced that its wholly-owned Oregon subsidiary, Reedsport OPT Wave Park, has received approval from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the full build-out of its planned 1.5MW grid-connected wave power station off Reedsport, Ore. OPT says this is the first FERC license for a wave power station issued in the United States and provides an important regulatory approval for the deployment of up to 10 OPT devices generating enough electricity for approximately 1,000 homes. Construction of the initial PowerBuoy is nearing completion and it's expected to be ready for deployment about 2.5 miles off the Reedsport coast later this year. OPT has received funding for this first system from the U.S. Department of Energy, with the support of the Oregon Congressional delegation, and from PNGC Power, an Oregon-based electric power cooperative.