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PB40 Enhanced System (PB40ES) PowerBuoy OPT’s most recent addition to its ocean testing program is the PB40 Enhanced System (PB40ES) PowerBuoy®. This utility scale, 40 kiloWatt (kW) PowerBuoy is the largest PowerBuoy deployed to date by OPT. The PB40ES was deployed as part of the first phase of OPT’s Santoña, Spain project with Iberdrola S.A. The PB40ES was scaled up based on the same design principles as OPT’s PB40 prototype PowerBuoy deployed off the coast of New Jersey (United States). The PB40ES’s ocean test served as OPT’s demonstration for utility scale, grid connected, and grid quality electricity generation and power conditioning. The design principles employed and demonstrated in the PB40ES PowerBuoy are the foundation for the Company’s first commercial utility scale, grid interconnected PB150 PowerBuoy. The PB40ES PowerBuoy demonstrates many features for a utility scale, wave energy project. It will generate power within its operating range for given wave heights. OPT’s mooring approach and PowerBuoy structure permit deployment of the PowerBuoy system across a wide combination of storm wave, tidal, and current conditions, making it suitable for a broad range of wave climates. The PB40ES incorporates a fiber optic communications and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) capability allowing up to ten (10) PowerBuoys to be integrated into a single operational unit through the Underwater Substation Pod (USP).
The PB40ES PowerBuoy has a sustained maximum, or peak rated, output of 40 kW and a power factor of -0.9 to +0.9. The capacity factor for the PB40ES is 30% to 40% at this location. The PB40ES is certified for grid interconnection. The PowerBuoy provides grid quality electricity meeting European interconnection standards. OPT has also developed an Underwater Substation Pod (USP) for which a patent is pending, which can aggregate the electrical output for up to ten (10) PB150 PowerBuoys and transmit it to shore using a single submarine transmission cable. This approach minimizes costs of submarine transmission cable to the shore based interconnection. The USP provides control and SCADA capability to remotely located operators for all connected PowerBuoys. |
