The device, known as the P-2, will generate 750kW and measure 180 metres in length -- 50 metres longer than its predecessor, the P-1. It will be the first time the P-2, said to be much more efficient than its predecessor, has been tested.

"There's been a lot of press about different [wave] projects under development, but there's a lot of difference between [the development stage] and an order," PWP business development director Max Carcas told Recharge in an e-mail.

Referring to other prototypes that have been tested in UK waters, including devices made by Pelamis, Wavegen and Orecon, Carcas noted: "These were not ordered by anyone, but self-financed."

The P-2 will will be built at Pelamis’s new production facility in Edinburgh, with testing to be done at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, the only grid-connected test facility in Europe.

According to Carcas, production on the project is already underway, with rolled steel having been delivered to the construction facility in Edinburgh. The device is expected to be fully operational by 2010.

Its first year will be an extended commissioning period, with the next two years designed to test and improve the device’s working capabilities.

E.ON’s marine development manager Amaan Lafayette said: “We recognise that much work has to follow before we can be certain that marine energy will fulfil its potential, but the success of this device will give us the confidence to move to the next phase of commercialisation which is larger arrays around the UK coastline."

“It’s only by actually getting devices in the water that we can test the potential for wave power in the UK, which is why this is such an important step,” he says.