AIM-listed Renewable Energy Holdings (REH) has announced that its CETO wave generator has successfully completed trials off the coast off Rous Head, Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia.

The CETO is the first wave power converter to sit on the seabed and convert energy into high pressure seawater. The device therefore requires only a small diameter pipe to carry the high pressure seawater ashore to a turbine to generate electricity, rather than a sub-sea transmission network.

REH says its device has now successfully generated electricity on land and produced de-salinated water for the first time using turbines and reverse osmosis filters.

REH plans to develop a commercial CETO design by the end of 2006 with commercial units available for deployment in 2007.

Mike Proffitt, chief executive of REH, said: “The next stage is to deploy an array of the units in a medium scale trial before moving onto a commercial sized plant.”