Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has completed trials of its underwater substation pod (USP) product in Spain. The USP, based on the company's proprietary design, has been developed to facilitate the collection, networking and transforming of power and data generated by up to ten of its PowerBuoys for transmission to a shore-based electricity grid by one subsea power cable.
Underwater trials of the USP included pressure testing, running electric power to and from the system, and verification of data communication capabilities.
The completion of the trials by OPT is part of an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Iberdrola Marinas de Cantabria.
OPT believes that the USP creates a new revenue stream for the company from sales to third parties engaged in marine power development and other offshore activities. Current sources of OPT’s revenues are PowerBuoys designed for utility-scale power generation projects and autonomous applications such as offshore homeland security.
The USP was designed and developed by the company from concept to manufacture and underwater testing. The majority of offshore energy systems generate electricity at low voltage and need to step-up to medium or high voltage for transmission to shore. Additionally, offshore power projects have devices (wind turbines, wave energy converters, tidal devices) that need to be networked offshore so that a single subsea cable can export the power and data to the shore, OPT said.
As reported, OPT has analyzed these requirements and developed its USP to meet these performance demands. In order to minimize the cost and complexity of marine operations, connections and disconnections have also been designed to be undertaken at the sea surface using standard vessels.
Stuart Bower, engineering and projects director of OPT, said: “This project has been a true engineering challenge of converting an idea on a ‘whiteboard’ into reality and demonstrates how the company’s technical base can be used to create valuable intellectual property.
“Comparable products used in the offshore oil and gas industry do not have the USP’s advantages for higher power capacity, longer life expectancy, fewer moving parts, a passive cooling system, lower cost per MegaWatt, and the ability to accommodate many power generation devices. We are delighted at the potential value the USP can bring to wave power projects and other offshore energy markets.”