Some California residents might be receiving electricity from a more novel, environmentally friendly and source in the coming years. PG&E has announced that it is going to team up with Finavera Renewables to build a “wave farm” off the coast of California in order to generate electricity.

The wave farm consists of “wave energy converters”, or basically large buoys like Finavera’s Aquabuoy pictured here. As the buoy moves up and down on top of the waves that pass by it drives a piston which is anchored on the ocean floor. The piston creates pressure which drives a turbine and in turn creates electricity. A single full-scale Aquabuoy can generate 250 killowatts which can power approximately 80 homes. The initial plan is to create a farm of these buoys that will generate 2 megawatts of electricity by 2012, and if things go well they will ramp up the farm to produce 100 megawatts.

A 100 megawatt farm would take up a few square miles of ocean and of course brings some concerns of boats getting tangled up in the system and also what impact the wave energy converters might have on surrounding sea life. Getting the system set-up is no inexpensive task either, with plans of making the electricity at a price a little more than coal produced electricity, but less than offshore wind turbines or solar power.

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