Ocean Power Technologies and Lockheed Martin Announce Collaboration for Utility Wave Power Project

/PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (OPT) (NASDAQ:OPTT) (NASDAQ:and London) (NASDAQ:Stock) (NASDAQ:Exchange) (NASDAQ:AIM:) (NASDAQ:OPT) announced they have signed a letter of intent to collaborate in the development of a utility-scale wave power generation project in North America.

Lockheed Martin and OPT intend to enter into an agreement under which OPT would provide its project and site development expertise, build the power take-off and control systems of the plant, and provide its proprietary PowerBuoy(R) technology. Lockheed Martin would provide construction, systems integration and deployment of the plant, as well as operations and maintenance services.

This is the first agreement between the two companies for a utility-scale renewable energy project and builds on their previous work together on systems for U.S. homeland security and maritime surveillance consisting of OPT's unique autonomous PowerBuoy integrated with Lockheed Martin's advanced acoustic sensors, signal processing and communications systems.

OPT's PowerBuoy wave generation system uses a "smart" buoy to capture and convert wave energy into low-cost, clean electricity. The generated power is transmitted ashore via an underwater power cable. The prospective wave power project between Lockheed Martin and OPT is expected to be off the coasts of either California or Oregon.

Dr. George W. Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of OPT, said "We are pleased to announce these plans to work with Lockheed Martin to pursue a utility-scale power station using our PowerBuoy technology. This collaboration will serve to draw on the key strengths of each company, and leverage our respective commitments to renewable energy as both the U.S. federal and state governments increase their investment in the sector. We believe that our existing and prospective customers will highly value the combined innovation and execution capability this match brings to the marketplace."

"This agreement is another step in Lockheed Martin's effort to support our national security through energy independence built around zero-emission renewable energy sources," said Howard Luebcke, Lockheed Martin director of Renewable Energy Business Development. "The depth and breadth of Lockheed Martin's systems engineering, procurement, manufacturing and process improvement capabilities, combined with OPT's innovative PowerBuoy technology and their project development experience, will promote the rapid deployment of utility-scale systems."

In November 2007, Lockheed Martin teamed with Starwood Energy Group to pursue utility solar generation projects in North America and has been pursuing multiple utility-scale opportunities. In December 2008, Lockheed Martin broke ground for construction of a solar power test bed to support these efforts, demonstrating its systems engineering and resources commitment to the renewable power generation market.

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