Ocean Power Technologies, the US renewable energy specialists with UK headquarters in Warwick, has broken into a small profit.

The AIM-listed company, which is pioneeing wave-energy technology, said its gross profit from contracts for the six months ended October 31st 2009 was £0.18 million compared to a gross loss of £0.5 million for the six months ended October 31st 2008.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) will provide technology for the world-leading marine energy project Wave Hub off the coast of Cornwall and its equipment will also be used at the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) chief executive officer Mark R. Draper said the company was moving ahead with its PowerBuoy technology - ocean-going buoys that capture and convert predictable wave energy into low-cost, clean electricity.

He said: “We made excellent progress by expanding our global presence while remaining on course to complete the first PB150 PowerBuoy.

“The PB150 project for Scotland is a major engineering challenge involving the construction of our next generation structure, for ocean deployment by the middle of next year.

“We made a significant breakthrough into the important Japanese market by entering a partnership with leading local companies, and we also strengthened our relationship with Lockheed Martin.”

“Building on these achievements during the second quarter, OPT with its partners received in early November a vote of confidence with a substantial grant from the Australian Federal Government for a utility-scale wave power project in Victoria, Australia.

“We believe that these milestones demonstrate how OPT is leading the commercialisation of wave power as climate change and the need for renewable energy become critical global issues.”