Inventor looks to generate waves of interest(2)

Greener development

"Wave energy is obviously an alluring idea because it's renewable and doesn't cause pollution," said Dai Shugeng, a professor of economics at Xiamen University, who added that Wu's efforts are worthy of great attention especially as China is restructuring its energy industry with the aim of achieving greener development and cleaner energy.

At the first meeting of the incumbent National Energy Commission in April, Premier Li Keqiang said China will push forward with reforms in energy production and consumption, make energy use greener in line with the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), which highlights the scientific exploration and utilization of ocean resources, to accelerate the development of the marine economy.

He Hongzhou, a researcher at the Fujian Provincial Energy Research Society, said that while the ocean contains a huge amount of untapped energy, wave and tidal power only account for a very small percentage of the nation's energy structure.

The development of marine energy is particularly attractive to Fujian because the province has a long coastline and a large number of islands, he said.

The province will invest 760 million yuan in marine-based renewable energy projects, including two offshore windfarm programs in Putian city, this year, according to the Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

You Yage, chief researcher with the Ocean Energy Laboratory at the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said despite the huge market, the development of wave and tidal power has been hampered because the technology on offer is unpopular.

A range of ocean-power projects are run by institutes or State-owned companies, which are heavily subsidized by the government, but the technology they offer hasn't been widely accepted because the cost is too high, You said.

Because it is very difficult for some deep sea equipment to supply power, the electricity will cost about 1,000 yuan per kWh, a sum far beyond the means of the general public, he said.

"Essentially, it's a commercialization issue. Because of that, Wu's experiment needs to be encouraged. The results are highly anticipated because the platform may greatly reduce the cost of electricity," You said.

He suggested that the government should launch a number of pilot programs aimed at accelerating the commercialization of ocean energy resources in coastal provinces such as Zhejiang and Fujian.

Wu said his company is probably the only one in the country involved in both the design and production of wave-power generators.

"If the project succeeds, it may become a model and attract further support from the government," he said.

The entrepreneur said that because private companies often have serious financial shortcomings when engaged in ocean-power projects, they are forced to "make every penny count".

Private enterprises are also likely to focus harder on the business aspects of projects such as alternative energy and be far more efficient, compared with teachers at universities and institutes who are forced to devote a large part of their time to teaching and academic tasks, Wu said.

"I hope more private companies will get in on the act," he said.