Risk Factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations.

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition

The auditors’ report for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, contains an explanatory paragraph about our ability to continue as a going concern.

The report of our auditors on our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, as well as for prior years, contains an explanatory paragraph raising substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. We had a net loss of $6,108,117 and $13,384,634 respectively, and cash used in operations of $2,057,879 and $1,672,688, respectively, and has a working capital deficiency of $7,865,177 and $5,730,802 and an accumulated deficit of $53,111,543 and $47,003,426, respectively at December 31, 2016. This raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Unless we raise additional capital by December 31, 2018, we will be unable to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern beyond December 31, 2018, is dependent on our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of debt or equity securities or stockholder loans and to implement our business plan during the next 12 months. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if we are unable to continue as a going concern. Management believes that actions presently being taken to obtain additional funding through implementing our strategic plans, broadly based marketing strategy, and sales incentives to expand operations will provide the opportunity for us to continue as a going concern.

We have no current project that will generate revenues in the near future.

None of our several projects is to the development stage at which it will generate revenues in the near future. Our project development cycles are relatively long, extending over several years as we identify a potential project site, complete negotiations with third parties, complete permitting, obtain financing, complete construction, and place a plant into service. We expect to receive a development fee of approximately 3% of the project cost from our projects, payable upon the close of project financing. Operating revenues from projects are expected to be received when the plant has been built and placed into operation. We are currently focusing on developing a U.S. Virgin Island project, but even if we develop it successfully, it will not generate revenues until several years in the future. Until we receive revenues from this or another project, we will be dependent on raising funds from external sources.

We will require substantial amounts of additional capital from external sources.

We do not have any current source of revenues or sufficient cash or other liquid resources to fund our planned activities until we receive development fees from new contracts. Accordingly, as in the past, we will need substantial amounts of capital from external sources to fund day-to-day operations and project development. We have no arrangements or commitment for such capital. We plan to continue our practice of seeking external capital through the sale of debt or equity, although we cannot assure that such efforts will be successful. Any new investments will dilute the interest of the current stockholders. Further, new investors may require preferential financial returns, security, voting rights, or other preferences that will be superior to the rights of the holders of common stock. Alternatively, as project development advances, we may be required to sell all or a portion of our interest in one or more projects, which could reduce our retained financial interest and potential return.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our efforts to develop OTEC and SWAC plants are subject to many financial, technical, managerial, and sales risks that may make us unsuccessful.

We incur substantial costs that we may not recover developing a new project that we may not build, operate, or sell. The identification of suitable locations, the investigation of the applicable regulatory and economic framework, the identification of potential purchasers, the completion of preliminary engineering and planning, and the funding of related administrative and support costs ordinarily require several years to complete before we determine to further develop or abandon a project. Each of these steps is fraught with risks and uncertainties, such as:

We cannot assure that we will be able to overcome these risks as we initiate the development of a project. We may incur substantial costs in advancing a project through the early stages, only to conclude eventually that the project is not economically or technically feasible, in which case we may be unable to recover the costs that we have then incurred. When we elect to proceed with a project, we may continue to incur substantial costs and be unable to complete the development, sell the project, or otherwise recover our investment. Even when a project is developed, constructed, and placed in operation, we cannot assure that we will be able to operate at a profit sufficient to recover our total investment.

We are dependent on the performance of counterparties to our agreements .

Our projects are and will be complex, with a number of agreements among several parties that purchase plant outputs; provide financing; complete design, construction, and other services; design and perform regulatory compliance; and fulfill other requirements. The failure of any participant in one of our projects due to its own management, financial, operating, or other deficiencies, all of which may be outside our control, can materially and adversely affect our operations and financial results. In circumstances in which we are not the prime developer of a large-scale project involving many large components in addition to our OTEC, SWAC, or other components, we would have little ability to address problems resulting from performance failures by others or implement project-wide remedial measures. The foregoing is illustrated in our Baha Mar project, which is now on hold because of contract performance and financing disputes by others and may never resume.

Ongoing world economic, currency-exchange, energy-price, and political circumstances adversely affect our project development activities.

Recent and ongoing world events outside of our control or influence adversely affect our development activities. Economic uncertainties have resulted in the unpredictable availability of credit, debt, and equity financing; volatile interest rates; currency exchange-rate fluctuations that add risk to international projects; restrictions on the availability of borrowing; concerns respecting inflation and deflation; economic turmoil resulting from unpredictable political events and tensions in international relations; substantial reductions in hydrocarbon energy prices and the impact of such declines on the cost of energy generally; shifts in the economic feasibility of competitive energy sources; and similar factors. These adverse factors frequently have a particularly intense effect on emerging markets and developing countries, which we believe provide the greatest opportunity for our development of our projects. The possibility that principal energy prices will continue at current or even higher levels, which could reduce the projected cost at which power could be generated by hydrocarbon-fueled power plants and could make our relatively higher cost plants less competitive. These emerging and developing markets are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of these adverse circumstances. The economic feasibility of alternative energy, including the process we develop and propose to operate, as compared to hydrocarbon energy is adversely affected as the prices for hydrocarbon fuels decline. Accordingly, possible continuing low hydrocarbon prices may retard the potential increase in the economic feasibility of alternative energy. The decline in crude oil prices from over $100 per barrel several years ago to approximately half that in mid-2016 has adversely affected alternative energy development. Our ability to develop and operate alternative energy plants and our ability to generate revenue will be adversely affected by continuing, relatively soft hydrocarbon energy prices. Further, alternative energy development may be adversely affected by uncertainty in hydrocarbon prices or public expectations that hydrocarbon prices may decline again.

We require substantial amounts of capital for all phases of our proposed activities.

We require substantial amounts of capital to fund efforts to identify, research, preliminarily engineer, permit, and design our projects and negotiate PPAs for them. These costs may not be recovered, because we may not elect to complete the development of the project or because the development and operation of the project are not successful. We will rely on external capital to fund all of our operations, and we cannot assure that such capital will be available. Our efforts to access capital markets will be limited, particularly at the outset, because we have not yet developed and placed into operation our first plant. Accordingly, we expect that we will have to provide the potential for a significant economic return for the initial capital we obtain, which will likely dilute the interests of our existing stockholders. We expect that each project that we are able to fully develop, construct, and place into operation will require several stages and levels of debt and equity financing. For example, we expect that a 17.2-megawatt (MW) OTEC plant may require total capital expenditures of approximately $445 million, consisting of $365 million in project debt financing and $80 million in equity. We cannot assure that we will be able to obtain such financing, and if obtained, such financing may be on terms that we will retain only a minority financial interest in the completed project and its operations. Our inability to obtain required financing for any activity or project could have a material adverse effect on our activities and operations.

We are reliant on our key executives and personnel.

Our business, development, and prospects are highly dependent upon the continued services and performance of our directors and other key personnel, on whom we rely for experience, technical skills, and commercial relationships. We believe that the loss of services of any existing key executives, for any reason, or failure to attract and retain necessary personnel, could have a material adverse impact on our business, development, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Although we have entered into employment agreements with our key executives, we may not be able to retain such key executives. We do not maintain key-man life insurance on any of our executive employees.

Regulations and policies governing energy projects, power generation, desalinated water sales, and other aspects of our OTEC and SWAC plants may adversely affect our ability to develop projects, and any changes in the applicable regulatory schemes may adversely affect projects that we are constructing or have constructed and are operating.

In identifying possible plant locations and undertaking preliminary development, an important factor in the overall economic feasibility of a project will be the governing regulatory regime. Such regulation includes the way the local jurisdiction regulates the power, cooling energy, or water output from a plant. Any change in that regulatory scheme after we determine to develop a plant based on existing circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our proposed operations. Generally, we will seek to structure plant output sales agreements as privately negotiated contracts not subject to utility or similar regulation, but we cannot assure that we will be able to do so. Some PPAs that we may seek to enter into may be subject to public utility commission approval, which may not be obtained or may be delayed. In some jurisdictions, the sale of output from a plant may be subject to public service commission or regulation by a similar authority as a public utility, even though we attempt to negotiate a private purchaser agreement for that output. In these circumstances, we may encounter delays in obtaining any required approval, approval may be conditioned on specified prices or other operating conditions, or the existence of the regulatory framework may delay or limit our ability to seek price increases.

The financial model for our proposed projects has not been tested and may not be successful.

We are proposing a financial model for the development of individual projects that includes development financing provided by us, construction financing provided by equity investors in the specific projects, and project debt financing; the payment of a development fee to us at the time of construction; and continuing equity participation by us throughout the plant’s operation. We have not used this model in the financing or completion of any plant, and we cannot assure that the financial model and, therefore, the anticipated financial return to us will be acceptable to those that might provide the requisite external capital. We may need to revise extensively our financing structure for each project, and we cannot assure that any restructured proposal would not substantially reduce our financial return or increase our risk. The financial, investment, and credit community are generally unfamiliar with OTEC and SWAC projects, which will adversely affect our financing efforts. We have no existing relationships with potential sources of debt or equity capital, and any financing sources that we may develop may be inadequate to support the anticipated capital needs of our business. Our efforts to obtain financing may be adversely affected by the fact that our projects will likely be located in developing or emerging markets. Our inability to obtain financing may force us to abandon projects in which we have invested substantial costs, which we may be unable to recover. The process of identifying new sources of debt and equity financing and agreeing on all relevant business and legal terms could be lengthy and could require us to limit the rate at which we can develop projects or reduce our financial return.

We may be exposed to political and legal risks in the developing or emerging markets in which we propose to locate plants.

Many of the emerging and developing markets that may be suitable for a potential OTEC or SWAC plants are located in emerging or developing countries that may have developing and untested regulatory and legal environments for large-scale, international, commercial enterprises. Further, political instability, regime change, or other political factors may increase uncertainty and instability, which in turn may adversely affect our ability to secure necessary regulatory approvals and obtain required project financing, which increases related costs and reduces our financial return. Any changes in applicable laws and regulations, including any governmental incentives, environmental requirements or restrictions, safety requirements, and similar matters, may change, and the risk or likelihood of such a change could adversely affect the availability and cost of financing. Further, in some jurisdictions, applicable legal requirements may not have been fully tested and are still being developed in the face of modern international commercial transactions and environmental requirements, which may lead to changes in interpretation or application that may be adverse to us. Our expectations regarding the size of the potential OTEC and SWAC markets and the number of possible suitable locations may not be accurate.

Our business plan and models are based on our identification of potential suitable locations for OTEC or SWAC plants based on a preliminary evaluation of public information respecting demographic data, current power-generation costs, and local seafloor contours and seawater temperatures, which may be inaccurate. Any material inaccuracy could substantially reduce the total market available to us for plant development.

We may be unable to arrange or complete future construction projects on time, within expected budgets, or without interruption due to materials availability and disruptions in supply, labor, or other factors. If any project reaches the point at which we undertake construction, such construction may be subject to actual prices higher than the amount budgeted, the limited or delayed availability of components or materials, shortages or interruptions of labor or materials, or similar circumstances. In the case we have insufficient budget flexibility to pay increased construction costs, corresponding delays could result to construction completion and the commencement of operations.

Emerging markets are often associated with high growth rates that may not be sustainable and may be accompanied by periods of high inflation. Rising inflation or related government monetary and economic policies in certain project jurisdictions may affect our ability to obtain external financing and reduce our ability to implement our expansion strategy. We can give no assurances that a local government will not implement general or project-specific measures to tighten external financing standards, or that if any such measure is implemented, it will not adversely affect our future operating results and profitability.

We are subject to changing attitudes about environmental risks.

Our projects may face opposition from environmental groups that may oppose our development, construction, or operation of OTEC or SWAC plants. Each project is expected to have different environmental issues, especially as many of our projects are based in different settings having a wide range of environmental standards. We intend to solicit input from environmental organizations and activists early in our design process in relation to our projects in an effort to consider appropriately these organizations’ recommendations in order to mitigate subsequent conflict or opposition, but we cannot assure that such outreach will be effective in all cases, and if it is not, opposition to our projects could increase our cost and adversely affect the results of our operations.

We may be unable to find land suitable for our projects.

Each project site requires land of differing characteristics to permit the cost-effective construction of OTEC or SWAC plants, and suitable land may not always be available. Even if available, such land may be difficult to obtain in a timely or cost-effective manner. For example, we would prefer to place OTEC power systems and facilities as close to the ocean as possible. We hope to mitigate this risk by using land owned by local governments, rather than private individuals or entities, as targeting local governments with favorable energy policies or mandates should reduce land rights risks. Our inability to secure appropriate land at a reasonable cost may render certain of our future projects economically unfeasible.

We have a limited number of suppliers for certain materials, which could increase our costs or delay completion of projects.

In our systems, the two most important components are heat exchangers and deep-water intake pipes. Although there are multiple providers of each of these components, the supply of the best components comes from just a few companies globally. Should these resources become unavailable for any reason or too costly, we would be required to seek alternative suppliers. The products from such suppliers could be of a lower quality or more costly, in any event requiring us to expend additional monies or time to complete our projects as planned. This could result in financial penalties or other costs to us.

There may be greater cost in building OTEC plants that generate over 10 MWs of electricity.

In order to successfully obtain debt financing for OTEC facilities, we must find engineering, procurement, and construction contractors willing to enter into fixed-price contracts at a pricing that is economically viable for us. Based on our preliminary discussions, we believe that engineering, procurement, and construction contractors may be willing to consider fixed-price arrangements for up to 10-MW OTEC facilities, but we have not yet discussed performance risk guarantees for OTEC plants greater than 10 MW. The cost of construction for larger OTEC power systems may vary considerably. Such variances could include increased costs for construction, design, and component procurement. As we gain more experience, we may improve upon efficiencies and accuracy in pricing. Failure to procure engineering, procurement, and construction contractors willing to perform fixed-price contracts on facilities that produce more than 10 MWs may have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Technological advances may render our technologies, products, and services obsolete.

We operate in a fast-moving sector in which new forms of power generation and new energy sources are continuously being researched. New technologies may be able to provide power, coolant, desalinated seawater, or other outputs at a lower cost, including amortization of capital costs, or with less environmental impact. We will remain subject to these risks for the useful life of our projects, which could extend for 20 to 30 years or more. Any such technological improvements could render our projects obsolete.

We may not successfully manage growth.

We intend to continue to develop the projects in our project pipeline and to construct and operate plants as we deem warranted and as we are able to finance. This is an ambitious growth strategy. Our growth and future success will depend on the successful completion of the expansion strategies and the sufficiency of demand for our energy products. The execution of our expansion strategies may also place a strain on our managerial, operational, and financial reserves. Should we fail to effectively implement such expansion strategies or should there be insufficient demand for our products and services, our business operations, financial performance, and prospects would be adversely affected.

There will likely be a single or limited number of power purchasers from each plant, so we will be dependent on their economic viability and stability and continued operations.

We expect that any plant that we operate will provide power, cooling, desalinated water, or other products to a few or a limited number of key power purchasers that will use the power for specific commercial enterprises, such as resorts, manufacturing or processing plants, or similar large-scale operations. Accordingly, our ability to sell power and other outputs will be dependent on the economic viability of these purchasers. If one or more key purchasers were to fail, we would be required to obtain alternative purchasers for our power and other outputs, and there may be no or a limited number of such alternative purchasers in the merging and developing markets where we anticipate our plants may be located. Accordingly, a failure of an output purchaser may result in the failure of our power plant project. We do not anticipate that we will be able to obtain insurance to protect us against such a loss on acceptable terms. Further, our project output purchasers may not comply with contractual payment obligations or may otherwise fail to perform their contracts, and they may have greater economic bargaining power and negotiating leverage as we seek to enforce our contractual rights. To the extent that any of our project power purchasers are, or are controlled by, governmental entities, our projects may also be subject to legislative, administrative, or other political action or policies that impair their contractual performance. Any failure of any key power purchasers to meet their contractual obligations for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.

Operational problems, natural events or catastrophes, casualty loss, or other events may impair the commercial operation of our projects.

Our ability to meet our delivery obligations under power-generation contracts, as well as our ability to meet economic projections, will depend on our ability to maintain the efficient working order of our plants. Severe weather, natural disasters, accidents, failure of significant equipment components, inability to obtain replacement parts, failure of power transmission facilities, or other catastrophes or occurrences could materially interrupt our activities and consequently reduce our economic return. Since all of our plants will be located on the shore within close proximity to deep ocean or lake water, our plants will be subject to extraordinary natural occurrences, such as wave surges from hurricanes or typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, and other events, over which we will have absolutely no control. We cannot assure that we can obtain sufficient insurance to protect us from all risks resulting from such catastrophes. Further, we cannot assure that any design features or operating policies that we may use will mitigate the risks to which our plants may be exposed. Any threatened or actual events could expose us to plant shutdowns, substantial repairs, interruptions of operations, damages to our power purchasers, and similar events that could require us to incur substantial costs and significantly impair our revenues and results of operations.

We may be adversely affected by climate change.

Climate change may result in changes in ocean currents and water temperatures that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. These changes may require additional capital costs or impair the efficiency of our operations. Because of the size and cost of major components of our power plants, we typically will not inventory spare components, so that any substantial damage may require that we await the custom manufacture and delivery of such items, which may involve substantial delays. Significant changes may render any plant inefficient and uneconomical.

Our projects will be subject to substantial regulation.

Our projects likely will be significant commercial or industrial enterprises in each of their locations and, as such, will be subject to numerous environmental, health and safety, antidiscrimination, and similar laws and regulations in each of the jurisdictions governing our locations. These laws and regulations will require our projects to obtain and maintain permits and approvals; complete environmental impact assessments or statements prior to construction; and review processes and operations to implement environmental, health and safety, antidiscrimination, and other programs and procedures to control risks associated with our operations.

Our in-water facilities and operations may be deemed to threaten living coral, sea plants and animals, shoreline contours, and similar items. In some circumstances, we may encounter environmental problems that we may unable to overcome, which may force us to relocate our facilities, at considerable additional costs.

If our projects do not comply with applicable laws, regulations, or permit conditions, or if there are endangered or threatened species fatalities on our projects, we may be required to pay penalties or fines or curtail or cease operations of the affected projects. In addition, violations of environmental and other laws, including certain violations of laws protecting wetlands, shorelines and land, and sea plant and animal life, may result in civil fines, criminal sanctions, or injunctions.

Some environmental laws impose liability on current and previous owners and operators of real property for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous substances, without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the release of such hazardous substance. In some jurisdictions, private plaintiffs may also bring claims arising from the presence of hazardous substances or their unlawful release or exposure. We will likely be unable to purchase insurance against these risks at all or on acceptable terms.

Environmental health and safety laws, regulations, and permit requirements applicable to any specific project at the time of construction may change or become more stringent during the life of the operation. Any such changes could require that our projects incur substantial additional costs, alter their operations, or limit or curtail their operations in order to comply, which would have a material adverse effect on our operations. We may not be able to pass on any additional costs that we incur to our power purchasers, particularly in those cases in which we sell power pursuant to a long-term, fixed-price agreement. The OTEC and SWAC industry may be subject to increased regulatory oversight.

As the OTEC and SWAC industries develop, new regulatory schemes may be adopted by one or more jurisdictions in which we develop or operate plants in order to address actual or perceived threats or problems. In addition to more stringent environmental, safety, and other regulations that may be applicable to us generally under the current regulatory scheme, whole new areas of regulation may be adopted, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. New regulations may specifically regulate, for example, the price at which power that is generated from different seawater temperatures may be sold, even to private purchasers. We may have plants in various locations subject to different governing jurisdictions, so the complexity of this developing and expanding regulatory pattern may be particularly cumbersome and expensive.

Insurance to cover anticipated risks may become more expensive.

There are no known commercial OTEC and SWAC plants in operation, so the nature and cost of insurance is difficult to predict. Insurance costs may substantially exceed the costs forecast during the planning process or budgeted during actual operations. We cannot assure that adequate insurance coverage will be available to protect us against all risks or that any related costs will be economical. Accordingly, if we are unable or cannot afford to purchase insurance against specific risks, our projects may be fully exposed to those risks, which also could have a material adverse effect on the viability of any affected plant.

Risks Related to Our International Operations

Certain risks of loss arise from our need to conduct transactions in foreign currencies.

Our business activities outside the United States and its territories may be conducted in foreign currencies. In the future, our capital costs and financial results may be affected by fluctuations in exchange rates between the applicable currency and the dollar. Other currencies used by us may not be convertible at satisfactory rates. In addition, the official conversion rates between a particular foreign currency and the U.S. dollar may not accurately reflect the relative value of goods and services available or required in other countries. Further, inflation may lead to the devaluation of such other currencies.

Foreign governmental entities may have the authority to alter the terms of our rights or agreements if we do not comply with the terms and obligations indicated in such agreements.

Pursuant to the laws in some jurisdictions in which we may develop or operate plants, foreign governmental entities may have the authority to alter the terms of our contractual or financial rights or override the terms of privately negotiated agreements. In extreme circumstances, some foreign governments have taken the extreme step of confiscating private property on the assertion that such action is necessary in the public interest of such country. If this were to occur, we may not be compensated fairly or at all. We cannot assure that we have complied, and will comply, with all the terms and obligations imposed on us under all foreign laws to which one or more of our operations and assets may be subject.

Our operations will require our compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

We must conduct our activities in or related to foreign companies in compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and similar anti-bribery laws that generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Enforcement officials interpret the FCPA’s prohibition on improper payments to government officials to apply to officials of state-owned enterprises, including state-owned enterprises with which we may develop or operate projects or to which we may sell plant outputs. While our employees and agents are required to acknowledge and comply with these laws, we cannot assure that our internal policies and procedures will always protect us from violations of these laws, despite our commitment to legal compliance and corporate ethics. The occurrence or allegation of these types of risks may adversely affect our business, performance, prospects, value, financial condition, reputation, and results of operations.

Our competitors may not be subject to laws similar to the FCPA, which may give them an advantage in negotiating with underdeveloped countries and the government agencies.

Our competitors outside the United States may not be subject to anti-bribery or corruption laws as encompassing or stringent as the U.S. laws to which we are subject, which may place us at a competitive disadvantage.

We may encounter difficulties repatriating income from foreign jurisdictions.

As we develop and place plants into operation, we intend to enter into only revenue-generating agreements in which we are paid in U.S. dollars directly to our U.S. banks or through countries in which repatriation of the funds to our U.S. accounts is unrestricted. However, situations could arise in which we agree to accept payment in foreign jurisdictions and for which restrictions make it difficult or costly to transfer these funds to our U.S. accounts. In this event, we could incur costs and expenses from our U.S. assets for which we cannot recover income directly. This could require us to obtain additional working capital from other sources, which may not be readily available, resulting in increased costs and decreased profits, if any.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our common stock is thinly traded, and there is no guarantee of the prices at which the shares will trade.

Trading of our common stock is conducted on the OTCQB Marketplace operated by the OTC Markets Group, Inc., or “OTCQB,” under the ticker symbol “CPWR.” Not being listed for trading on an established securities exchange has an adverse effect on the liquidity of our common stock, not only in terms of the number of shares that can be bought and sold at a given price, but also through delays in the timing of transactions and reduction in security analysts’ and the media’s coverage of the Company. This may result in lower prices for your common stock than might otherwise be obtained and could also result in a larger spread between the bid and asked prices for our common stock. Historically, our common stock has been thinly traded, and there is no guarantee of the prices at which the shares will trade, or of the ability of stockholders to sell their shares without having an adverse effect on market prices. 

We have never paid dividends on our common stock and we do not anticipate paying any dividends in the foreseeable future.

We have not paid dividends on our common stock to date, and we may not be in a position to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. Our ability to pay dividends depends on our ability to successfully develop our OTEC business and generate revenue from future operations. Further, our initial earnings, if any, will likely be retained to finance our growth. Any future dividends will depend upon our earnings, our then-existing financial requirements and other factors and will be at the discretion of our board of directors (the “Board of Directors”).

Because our common stock is a “penny stock,” it may be difficult to sell shares of our common stock at times and prices that are acceptable.

Our common stock is a “penny stock.” Broker-dealers who sell penny stocks must provide purchasers of these stocks with a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC. This document provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks involved in investing in the penny stock market. A broker must also give a purchaser, orally or in writing, bid and offer quotations and information regarding broker and salesperson compensation, make a written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser, and obtain the purchaser’s written agreement to the purchase. The penny stock rules may make it difficult for you to sell your shares of our common stock. Because of these rules, many brokers choose not to participate in penny stock transactions and there is less trading in penny stocks. Accordingly, you may not always be able to resell shares of our common stock publicly at times and prices that you feel are appropriate.

In addition to the “penny stock” rules described above, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (known as “FINRA”) has adopted rules that require that in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative low priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common shares, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our stock and have an adverse effect on the market for our shares.

Our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2016. Compliance with public company regulatory requirements, including those relating to our internal control over financial reporting, have and will likely continue to result in significant expenses and, if we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock may be negatively affected.

As a public reporting company, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as to the information and reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and other federal securities laws. As a result, we incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses, including costs associated with our public company reporting requirements and corporate governance requirements. As an example of public reporting company requirements, we evaluate the effectiveness of disclosure controls and procedures and of our internal control over financing reporting in order to allow management to report on such controls.

Our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2016 due to a failure to maintain an effective control environment, failure of segregation of duties, failure of entity-level controls and our sole executive’s access to cash.

If significant deficiencies or other material weaknesses are identified in our internal control over financial reporting that we cannot remediate in a timely manner, investors and others may lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements and the trading price of our common stock and ability to obtain any necessary equity or debt financing could suffer. This would likely have an adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock and our ability to secure any necessary additional equity or debt financing.

Risks Relating to our Equity Line with L2 Capital

Resales of shares purchased by L2 Capital under the Equity Purchase Agreement may cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Equity Purchase Agreement, we have the right to “put,” or sell, up to $15,000,000 worth of shares of our common stock to L2 Capital. Unless terminated earlier, L2 Capital’s purchase commitment will automatically terminate on the earlier of the date on which L2 Capital shall have purchased shares pursuant to the Equity Purchase Agreement for an aggregate purchase price of $15,000,000 or December 11, 2020. This arrangement is also sometimes referred to herein as the “Equity Line.” The common stock to be issued to L2 Capital pursuant to the Equity Purchase Agreement will be purchased at a price equal to 85% of the “Market Price,” which is defined as the lowest traded price on the OTCQB, as reported by Bloomberg Finance L.P., during the five consecutive trading days including and immediately prior to the settlement date of the sale, which in most circumstances will be the trading day immediately following the date that a put notice is delivered to L2 Capital (a “Put Date”). L2 Capital will have the financial incentive to sell the shares of our common stock issuable under the Equity Purchase Agreement in advance of or upon receiving such shares and to realize the profit equal to the difference between the discounted price and the current market price of the shares. This may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. 

The foregoing description of the terms of the Equity Purchase Agreement does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the Equity Purchase Agreement itself.  

Puts under Equity Purchase Agreement may cause dilution to existing stockholders.

From time to time during the term of the Equity Purchase Agreement, and at our sole discretion, we may present L2 Capital with a put notice requiring L2 Capital to purchase shares of our common stock. As a result, our existing stockholders will experience immediate dilution upon the purchase of any of the shares by L2 Capital. L2 Capital may resell some, if not all, of the shares that we issue to it under the Equity Purchase Agreement and such sales could cause the market price of our common stock to decline significantly. To the extent of any such decline, any subsequent puts would require us to issue and sell a greater number of shares to L2 Capital in exchange for each dollar of the put amount. Under these circumstances, the existing stockholders of our company will experience greater dilution. The effect of this dilution may, in turn, cause the price of our common stock to decrease further, both because of the downward pressure on the stock price that would be caused by a large number of sales of our shares into the public market by L2 Capital, and because our existing stockholders may disagree with a decision to sell shares to L2 Capital at a time when our stock price is low, and may in response decide to sell additional shares, further decreasing our stock price. If we draw down amounts under the Equity Line when our share price is decreasing, we will need to issue more shares to raise the same amount of funding.

There is no guarantee that we will satisfy the conditions to the Equity Purchase Agreement.

Although the Equity Purchase Agreement provides that we can require L2 Capital to purchase, at our discretion, up to $15,000,000 worth of shares of our common stock in the aggregate, our ability to put shares to L2 Capital and obtain funds when requested is limited by the terms and conditions of the Equity Purchase Agreement, including restrictions on when we may exercise our put rights, restrictions on the amount we may put to L2 Capital at any one time, which is determined in part by the trading volume of our common stock, and a limitation on our ability to put shares to L2 Capital to the extent that it would cause L2 Capital to beneficially own more than 4.99% of the outstanding shares of our common stock.

We may not have access to the full amount available under the Equity Purchase Agreement with L2 Capital.

Our ability to draw down funds and sell shares under the Equity Purchase Agreement requires that a registration statement be declared effective and continue to be effective registering the resale of shares issuable under the Equity Purchase Agreement. The registration statement of which this prospectus is a part registers the resale of 52,631,578 shares of our common stock issuable under the Equity Line. Our ability to sell any additional shares under the Equity Purchase Agreement will be contingent on our ability to prepare and file one or more additional registration statements registering the resale of such additional shares. These registration statements (and any post-effective amendments thereto) may be subject to review and comment by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and will require the consent of our independent registered public accounting firm. Therefore, the timing of effectiveness of these registration statements (and any post-effective amendments thereto) cannot be assured. Even if we are successful in causing one or more registration statements registering the resale of some or all of the shares issuable under the Equity Purchase Agreement to be declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a timely manner, we may not be able to sell the shares unless certain other conditions are met. For example, we might have to increase the number of our authorized shares in order to issue the shares to L2 Capital. Increasing the number of our authorized shares will require board and stockholder approval. Accordingly, because our ability to draw down any amounts under the Equity Purchase Agreement with L2 Capital is subject to a number of conditions, there is no guarantee that we will be able to draw down all of the proceeds of $15,000,000 under the Equity Purchase Agreement.