Ocean Power Gets a Jolt From Lockheed Deal
Shares of Ocean Power Technologies soared Tuesday following an announcement that the company has a $205.68 million deal with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin to produce the world’s largest wave energy project offshore of Victoria, Australia.
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Shares of Ocean Power Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTT) soared Tuesday following an announcement that the company has a $205.68 million deal with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) to produce the world’s largest wave energy project offshore of Victoria, Australia.
The two companies have cooperated on projects in the past, but this latest project calls for an offshore power plant that can generate 62.5 megawatts of power when it is completed in 2018 or 2019. The first 2.5 megawatts are scheduled to be completed either this year or next.
A Lockheed spokesman said, “Ocean energy is a tremendously large, untapped resource which has global applicability. … It’s essentially clean and the fuel is free.” The Ocean Power turbines rise about 30 feet above the surface of the water, much less than the 130 feet or so that wind power turbines rise above the surface.
Ocean Power stock was up about 45% to $3.35 Tuesday, after posting a new 52-week high of $4.09. The stock’s 52-week low is $1.45. More than 12 million shares had traded hands by mid-day, compared with a daily average of less than 400,000.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
