The PowerBuoy
In a surprising development, Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has announced that CEO Mark Draper is leaving the company less than a year after taking the top position from company founder Dr. George Taylor, citing personal reasons. AIM-listed OPT, which has developed the PowerBuoys generator, a water buoy that capture waves to generate electricity, has appointed Chief Financial Officer Charles Dunleavy to replace him.
Mr. Dunleavy, 60, joined OPT in 1994 and has served as CFO since 2001. He has been a company director since 1990. The Company says it will appoint a new CFO.
Last November OPT received A$66.46 million ($60.65 million) grant from Australia’s Resources & Energy Ministry to finance construction of a 19 megawatts wave power project on the Indian Ocean.
OPT has also deployed 10 PowerBuoys generators off Spain’s Atlantic Coast as part of a 1.39-megawatt project it’s developing with Iberdrola and is working on a utility-scale initiative with Lockheed Martin off the Oregon coast. Back in Europe, OPT is developing Wave Hub, a 20-megawatt project, in Cornwall, England.