PB3 PowerBuoy® Celebrates One Year of Maintenance-free Continuous Operation in the Adriatic Sea

PB3 PowerBuoy® Demonstrates Another Milestone

Our Adriatic Sea installation recently marked a year of maintenance-free continuous operation and it has produced more than two megawatt-hours (MWh) of cumulative energy to date for Eni S.p.A.

One of the world’s largest energy companies, Eni S.p.A. is demonstrating the PB3 PowerBuoy® as a charging and communications platform to enable the long-term remote operation of its Clean Sea autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The project is a key part of Eni’s MaREnergy project to demonstrate the suitability of wave energy renewable technologies in the oil and gas industry.

OPT- patented technology allows the PB3 PowerBuoy® to create power even in waters with limited wave energy, like the calm environment of the Adriatic. The power take-off (PTO) – the physical system that converts wave energy into rotary motion to drive a generator that produces electrical power – has completed more than 1.8 million duty cycles to date, which is equivalent to nearly 2,500 kilometers traveled.