RigDrive is being developed as a retrofittable module that lets oil rigs harvest wave energy, theoretically giving them enough energy to power their operations.

"Instead of creating all this extra capital infrastructure, it's already there and we're able to tap into it a lot more readily," Aqua Gen Director Martin Buden said.

"In a lot of ways we'd describe this as low-hanging fruit. It's often bantered around in the renewable energy sector, but this really is very low-hanging fruit and no one's seen it yet, which we're very excited about."

The company says the technology could open up the short-term market for wave energy, cutting the time from concept to commercialisation by using the rig infrastructure and skipping the process of designing its own.

The company plans to re-invest revenue into its large scale wave farm technology, which it reckons is a winning strategy for its investors.

"It seems like an oxymoron at first as we are leveraging from a non-sustainable industry," Buden said.

"But when you think about it, creating a clean sustainable energy industry is about transitioning from carbon-based energy to clean energy. It cannot happen without the massive leverage available through such an industry."