Lockheed Martin and Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) said today they have officially signed a commercial engineering services agreement to develop OPT’s wave energy systems to be used in future utility-scale power generation projects.
The announcement builds on a letter of intent signed by the two companies in January to co-develop utility-scale power generation projects in North America, Lockheed spokewoman Kim Martinez told the Cleantech Group today (see Lockheed, OPT partner on utility-scale wave energy).
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
The news comes on the heels of a significant setback to a 290-megawatt concentrating solar power plant that was expected to include the Bethesda, Md.-based aerospace giant. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) decided not to move forward with participating in the project due to its size and risk associated with the contract. The plant is still expected to move forward, but on a smaller scale.
However, Martinez reaffirmed the company’s interest and expertise in helping to progress utility-scale wave generation projects with OPT. As early as the 1970s, Lockheed has been working on ocean thermal energy conversion, she said.
Marine-power firm OPT’s PowerBuoy system is based on modular ocean buoys that capture and convert wave energy into what the company claims is low-cost, clean electricity, which would be transferred to the shore by underwater power transmission lines (see OPT records $8M backlog for wave-energy devices).
OPT said the technology uses “smart buoys,” based on hydrodynamics, electronics, energy conversion and computer control systems. OPT (Nasdaq:OPTT) is headquartered in Pennington, N.J., with offices in the UK.
A 10-megawatt utility power station using OPT’s PowerBuoy technology would take up about 30 acres (0.125 square kilometers) of ocean space, the company said.
It’s not clear how many PowerBuoys would be needed for a power station of this size. The company could not be reached for comment.
Lockheed said it plans to provide assistance with systems integration, manufacturing and testing of the technology so it can be optimized at utility scale.
Martinez said Lockheed wants to have a similar relationship with OPT as it does through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts with the solar sector.
“We provide the construction, systems integration and deployment of the plant and the maintenance and operations,” said Martinez, of EPC contracts.
Lockheed has previously said it’s working with Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Energy Group Global for utility-scale solar projects in North America (Lockheed Martin, Starwood Energy to pursue utility scale solar). Starwood Energy is the energy investment arm of private equity firm Starwood Capital Group Global.
However, the first project Lockheed and Starwood had planned to tackle to provide power to Arizona Public Service is no longer going to include Lockheed as the EPC contractor, Martinez said.
In May, Starwood and Lockheed announced plans to build what was expected to be the world’s largest dispatchable solar energy plant, at 290 MW, capable of providing enough electricity for nearly all 73,000 Arizona Public Service electricity customers (see Starwood, Lockheed team up to provide solar thermal power to Arizona utility). The cost of the project was not disclosed.
Starwood said it is still planning to pursue the project, but on a smaller scale. The Starwood-owned facility, which had been slated for completion in 2013, was expected to be located in Maricopa County, Ariz., 75 miles west of Phoenix.
