Tests on a revolutionary new way of generating power from waves, developed by an AMP company, are about to start in the Humber estuary. Pulse Tidal, based at the Innovation Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, has started installing a test rig the size of a house in the estuary.

Tests on a revolutionary new way of generating power from waves, developed by an AMP company, are about to start in the Humber estuary. Pulse Tidal, based at the Innovation Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, has started installing a test rig the size of a house in the estuary.

The rig will be the first marine device to feed renewable energy to the national grid and is being linked into the grid through Millennium Inorganic Chemicals' plant on the south bank of the Humber. It uses high-performance hydrofoils, similar to aeroplane wings, that move up and down like a whale's tail, taking energy from tidal currents.

That means it can work in the shallow waters of the estuary, where more conventional wave power generators cannot, producing 100kW of power, enough electricity to power up to 70 homes.

Pulse director Howard Nimmo said: "We will spend the next couple of weeks finishing the construction, including fitting the moving foils. We will run the test for several weeks and report on the results as soon as we can."

Pulse has been working with Hull University, a world leader in tidal power technology, and LIFE, the energy technology business incubation specialist, also based at the AMP.

LIFE's chief executive, Philip Johnson, said: "Tidal power has everything we need for our future energy requirements: it is safe, clean, renewable and entirely predictable.

"Pulse is typical of the companies involved in LIFE, with a commitment to bring renewable energy products to a rapidly-expanding market which, for tidal power, could be as worth as much as £10 billion in the UK alone."

Pulse has attracted private funding from private investors including Japanese trading giant Marubeni as well as £1.1 million in grants from the UK Government's Technology Programme and the European Union's European Regional Development Fund.

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