Charles Dunleavy
Analyst · UBS
Thank you, Brian, and thanks to everyone who has joined us for today's webcast. Brian and I will be available to answer questions following our prepared statements. On Slide 3, I'd like to note some of the highlights of the third quarter of this fiscal year. We continued to make significant progress in developing our core PowerBuoy technology and executing our business strategy. We announced the expansion of our relationship with Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding; received independent certification from Lloyd's Register for our PB150 PowerBuoy; and just after the end of the third quarter, announced the completion of the first of our new generation utility PowerBuoy, the PB150. OPT achieved strong top line growth with reported increases of 78% and 73% in revenue for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2011 compared to the respective periods last year. Let me now take you through these developments in more detail. Moving to Slide 4. OPT has identified two application-driven markets for its core PowerBuoy technology: The utility or grid-connected market, which needs large amounts of power; and the non grid-connected autonomous market, where lower levels of power output are needed for various applications out in the deep ocean. Much of this quarter's operational activity was focused on the development of our PB150 utility PowerBuoy system. Construction of our first 150kW-rated PowerBuoy in Scotland is complete. This is the largest and most powerful device developed and built by us to date. The development of the PB150, built and assembled at Invergordon, Scotland, has utilized the skills of local firms and represents a multi-million pound-sterling investment in the region. It is currently being prepared for ocean trials at a site approximately 33 nautical miles from Invergordon, off Scotland's northeast coast. The sea trials are expected to commence as soon as weather conditions permit deployment. The ocean trials off Scotland have been fully consented by the Scottish government. In addition, Marine Scotland, the directorate of the Scottish government responsible for regulating marine and fisheries matters, consulted with many interested parties and stakeholder groups, covering areas such as local wildlife, shipping, oil & gas and fishing interests. The company is seeking additional funding for the commercial utilization of the buoy after the trial phase is completed, including its possible deployment at various potential sites. It is the first test system for our PB150 product line and a significant engineering achievement. As we have progressed during the construction phase, it has already provided valuable data for the advancement of our technology and its manufacturability. Slide 5 shows the integration of the spar and the first half of the float during the final assembly process. On Slide 6, the picture on the left side shows the buoy with the second half of the float being assembled. The picture on the right side shows the integration of the bridge and the float. Moving to Slide 7. We see a picture of the assembled PB150 PowerBuoy. It is 135 feet in length and has a maximum diameter of 36 feet near the ocean's surface. For reference, you can see one of our technicians on the far right side of the picture. Moving to Slide 8. Our second PB150 for our project in Reedsport, Oregon has benefited from the experience of building the Scottish system. Fabrication of the power take-off and control system as well as the steel structure is now complete. Testing of the power take-off, or PTO, and the control system has commenced in OPT's production facility. Following this initial testing of its subassemblies, the complete PTO system will commence cycle testing under simulations of varying wave conditions. Ocean trials of this PB150 are expected to commence off the coast of Oregon in the second half of calendar year 2011. OPT intends this PowerBuoy to be the first of a 10-PowerBuoy, 1.5-megawatt wave power station at the Reedsport site. After receipt of appropriate licensing from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and receipt of additional funding for the project, the 10-PowerBuoy wave power station would be America's first commercial scale grid-connected wave power station. The foreground of the picture on Slide 9 is the float and the bridge of the PB150 in Oregon. In the background is the heave plate and truss. On Slide 10 is a picture of the fully assembled spar of the buoy. Now turning to Slide 11. Our other utility projects also continued to move ahead steadily. In Hawaii, our PowerBuoy built in conjunction with the U.S. Navy continues to demonstrate the in-ocean survivability of the first grid-connected wave energy device in the United States. It has shown the ability of OPT's PowerBuoy to produce utility-grade, renewable energy that can be transmitted to the grid in a manner fully compliant with national and international standards. The PowerBuoy has been in operation since December 2009 and has withstood a number of severe storms, including the tsunami wave conditions, which resulted from last year's earthquake in Chile, plus the earthquake just last week in Japan. The Hawaii PowerBuoy has produced power in accordance with model expectations for that location and PowerBuoy configuration. Built under contract from the U.S. Navy, the Hawaii project's intent has been to demonstrate the survivability of OPT's PowerBuoy, as well as the capability of our product to meet design expectations. In addition, significant aspects of the success of Hawaii PowerBuoy are its delivery a grid-quality power and the validation of OPT's operating and performance models for scale-up to the PB150 and its progression to our next generation device, the PB500 PowerBuoy product. While the PB150 will be our key product for the utility market over the next few years, the commercialization of our intellectual property is also being leveraged by the product development of the 500kW-rated PB500 PowerBuoy. Concept development and wave tank testing of this major larger scale system is already underway and aimed at further lowering the cost per kilowatt hour of wave power and making it more competitive with other energy sources. Slide 12 shows a picture of the Hawaii PowerBuoy deployed off the Marine Corps Base in Oahu. Now turning to Slide 13. In the third quarter, OPT achieved independent certification of its utility-scale PB150 structure and mooring system by the internationally respected Lloyd's Register. This certification confirms that the PB150 design complies with certain international standards promulgated for floating offshore installations. The process followed by Lloyd's included detailed design analysis and appraisals, adjusting the PB150 structure, its hydrodynamics, as well as its mooring and anchoring. This certification from Lloyd's is the latest validation of OPT's technology from independent parties. OPT previously received an independent environmental assessment in Hawaii under the direction of the U.S. Navy, which resulted in a finding of no significant impact, which is the highest rating possible. In July 2007, OPT announced that its PowerBuoy interface with the electrical utility power grid had been certified as compliant with international standards. This follows some work by a respected independent laboratory, Intertek Testing Services, which provided testing and evaluation services to certify OPT systems comply with designated standards, including UL1741 and IEEE1547. OPT's PowerBuoys have been injured by Lloyd's syndicates for over 10 years for property loss and third-party liability. We believe OPT's technology has received more testing and validation by independent parties than any other wave energy company. As a result, this provides our customers, investors and project partners further confidence that our products are market ready and robust. Now turning to Slide 14. In parallel with the significant activity of our utility projects, further progress was also made during the quarter in our Autonomous PowerBuoy business, which is targeting remote ocean applications where there is no access to grid-connected power. Earlier in the fiscal year, the U.S. Navy awarded $2.75 million in additional funding to OPT for the second stage under its existing program to provide an autonomous PowerBuoy wave energy conversion system for the Navy's LEAP program. This is the Littoral Expeditionary Autonomous PowerBuoy program for Homeland protection and maritime security. The new award follows the successful completion during the second quarter by OPT of the first stage of the LEAP program. During that first stage of the program, OPT successfully completed delivery in September 2010 of the design and on-land testing of a new power take-off system for its autonomous PowerBuoy. In the second stage of the program, on which we are now working, the company will build and ocean-test a LEAP PowerBuoy structure, incorporating that new power take-off system off the coast of New Jersey. Design of that system is nearing completion and deployment of this PowerBuoy is expected to occur in the second half of calendar year 2011. Turning to Slide 15. One of our major target markets is Japan, where we have been working with Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, or MES, for the development of wave energy in Japan. In the third quarter, OPT signed a new $220,000 contract with MES. Under this contract, MES and OPT will work together to develop a new mooring system for OPT's PowerBuoy, customized for wave power stations off the coast of Japan. The companies intend to complete work on the mooring system and progress the identification of a project site for an in-ocean trial of the PowerBuoy system. Following from that work, the identification of a project site and completion of economic assessment, the parties plan to enter into an agreement to conduct ocean trials of a demonstration PowerBuoy system. The trial plant would provide the basis for the expected building of a commercial scale OPT wave power station with an initial capacity of several megawatts, scalable to 10 megawatts or more. In Australia, a special-purpose company formed by Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, or Leighton, previously received a AUD $66 million grant from the Commonwealth Government of Australia towards building a 19-megawatt OPT wave power station off the coast of Victoria, Australia. The award was one of four renewable energy projects approved by the Commonwealth Government after considering over 30 applications, and is the only wave energy venture to receive the grant. The funding is intended to be used to advance the construction of the wave power station to be built in three phases to supply electricity to up to 10,000 homes in Victoria. The grant is conditional on the attainment of the balance of funding needed for the project, the procurement of which is being undertaken by Leighton. I'll now turn the call over to Brian Posner who will discuss our financial performance for the third quarter and nine months.