CETO was designed and developed by Western Australian businessman Alan Burns and his company Seapower Pacific, which was acquired by London-listed Renewable Energy Holdings in February, just before the launch of the device in March.

According to REH, a hectare-size farm of about 125 commercial CETO units would generate 18MW of electricity or 45 billion litres of fresh drinking water with no greenhouse gas emissions.

Early next year, the company plans to deploy its CETO II pre-commercialisation unit, which Burns said was based on the same proven principles as the original prototype.

REH, which is aiming for full commercialisation by 2010, says the CETO device will be towed to a site off the coast and used as a dive wreck.

Unlike other methods, which pipe seawater ashore before harnessing its power and losing substantial amounts of energy in the process, CETO captures the power of the water onsite. As waves move over the top of the unit, they press down on a disc that transmits the force to pumps inside, which then deliver the pressurised water to shore.

CETO’s other main advantage comes from its location on the seabed. Most other methods of wave-powered electricity generation involve placing devices on the surface of the sea, where they are exposed to the damaging effects of stormy weather and could pose a threat to ships.