Tel Aviv, Israel-based SDE Energy and Desalination said it has signed a 25-year agreement with an African country to build wave energy projects with a total capacity of 100 megawatts.

The cost of the project is estimated at $100 million. Revenue from the electricity produced could reach $1 billion, SDE said.

SDE did not disclose which African country would be home to the projects but said it was a Muslim country.

SDE is in talks with institutional investors to provide financial guarantees for the ocean wave-driven power stations.

The company says sea waves have four times the power generation capacity per square meter than wind.

SDE has built eight models of its technology, the most recent with a capacity of 40 kilowatts.

SDE says it has orders and letters of intent worth $3 billion but is restricted by funding. The company is seeking investment through share sales or royalties from projects.

Other wave-energy companies have had initial success after hurdles getting their projects in the water.

In September, Edinburgh, Scotland’s Pelamis Wave Power started operating what Portuguese officials say is the world’s first commercial wave-power project, located 5 kilometers (3 miles) off Portugal's northern coast (see Pelamis starts Portugal wave-power farm).

The same week, competitor Ocean Power Technologies began installation of a 1.39MW wave-energy unit off Spain’s coast (see Ocean Power Technologies deploys Spanish wave unit).

However, Vancouver, British Columbia's Finavera Renewables (TSX: FVR) had its plans thwarted to sell wave power to San Francisco's Pacific Gas & Electric by the state's utility oversight board, which said in October that the technology was unproven and too expensive for customers (see PG&E to ride the waves with Finavera).

The company is now concentrating on projects on wind energy in British Columbia, Ireland and Alberta (see Finavera in Irish wind development deal).

Source: http://www.cleantech.com

---