According to Hans-Josef Fell, Australia has the potential to become the world leader in ocean energy. Mr Fell is one of the politicians responsible for the German renewable energy laws which led to that country becoming a leader in solar and wind energy.

in an address to the West Australian Sustainable Energy Association, he said “I believe Australia could become a market leader in ocean energy production. You have big potential in sea currents, waves and tidal and sea temperature differences, You could become the market leader in five or six years in this area for all the world.”

“In 2000 in Germany, we set a target to double the share of renewable energy by 2010 – from six to 12 per cent. Nearly no one believed that this was achievable. But at the end of 2007, we reached 14 per cent, a much higher figure in a shorter time.” He said the next goal in Germany is for renewables to reach up to 30 per cent of all power use by 2015, and possibly 50 per cent by 2020.

He said that a good political framework is necessary to help reduce the cost of technology and allow it to come into mass production. “The best framework is a feed-in tariff. A feed-in tariff gives the private capital the secure (framework) for profitable investment” he said.

Hydro Tasmania has signed a deal with Sydney-based company BioPower Systems to conduct trials of its BioWave technology on King Island and its Biostream tidal-current system on Flinders Island with a view to generating 250kW of electricity to power the 500 homes on both Bass Strait islands by next year.

BioStream technology mimics the movements of shark, tuna and mackerel but fixed in a moving stream. The resulting motion generates power.

BioWave is based on the swaying motion of sea plants in the presence of waves. The motion of oscillating blades produces power.

BioPower Systems Chief Executive Officer, Tim Finnigan, said that the ocean power could be provided at the same cost as the islands’ existing power supplies.