Lockheed Martin [LMT] has signed a contract with Victorian Wave Partners Ltd.
for the world’s largest wave energy project off the coast of Australia, the company said Tuesday.
“This is a significant step toward making ocean energy commercially available,” a statement said.
Once completed, the project will peak at 62.5 megawatts, enough to power roughly 10,000 homes. The project will harvest energy generated by the surface motion of ocean waves, which are more predictable than other renewable energy sources such as wind or solar. Lockheed Martin will employ the PowerBuoy wave converter technology from Ocean Power Technologies (OPT). The PowerBuoys are 30 feet high and will be stationed three miles off the coast of Victoria, Australia.
The wave project will also further the country’s goal of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.
“This project extends our established relationship with OPT and Australian industry and enables us to demonstrate a clean, efficient energy source for Australia and the world,” said Tim Fuhr, director of ocean energy for Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business.
Lockheed Martin will provide project management, design support for the manufacturing of the PowerBuoys, components production and system integration for the duration of the contract.