Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has broken into the Japanese market with an agreement to develop a demonstration wave power project with three leading industrial firms.
The US-based wave energy firm has teamed up with Idemitsu Kosan Co., Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. and Japan Wind Development Co. to develop the demonstration project in Japan as well as to promote wave power technology in the country.
It has also been invited to become a member of the Tokyo Wave Power Initiative, a committee including the city of Tokyo, regional governments and national agencies involved in the promotion of new energy sources.
The demonstration project will be OPT’s first in Japan, and the agreement with the three companies is in line with its strategy of forming alliances in key markets in order to expand internationally. OPT already has several projects underway in the USA, UK, Spain and Australia.
“As one of the world’s largest economies, with a dense urban population and a coastline almost as long as Canada, Japan plays a significant regional role in promoting technical innovation and clean energy,” said OPT’s Executive Chairman, Dr. George W. Taylor. “We look forward to working with this group to make an important contribution to achieving Japan’s targeted reductions in carbon emissions.”
In the project’s initial phase, OPT and its three partners will work with the Japanese government to increase the recognition of wave power in Japanese energy policy, as well as identify favourable sites for wave power stations.
The partners want to build a wave power demonstration plant using up to three of OPT’s PowerBuoy devices. This plant would serve as the basis for the construction of a 10 MW plant, says OPT.
Japan’s recently elected Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has pledged a 25 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020. The government also plans to introduce a feed-in tariff, or other financial reward, for renewable energy production as part of plans to boost renewable energy sources to about ten per cent of primary energy supply by 2020.
Akira Kurosaki of the Business Development and Innovation Headquarters of Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, said, “OPT’s in-ocean experience and technical strength make it a strong partner. Wave power is a very concentrated and predictable source of renewable energy that has great potential for Japan. We believe that OPT’s PowerBuoy technology will be an important part of our common vision of reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.”
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