OPT and Leighton will use the funding to advance construction of a wave power station that will provide energy for 10,000 homes in the city of Portland. Construction work to be done in three phases will begin by second quarter 2010.

The partners last December formed a special purpose company, Victorian Wave Partners, to develop wave power projects off the east and south coasts of Australia.

“Our Victoria, Australia project is expected to be one of the first utility-scale wave energy projects globally,” says Charles W. Taylor, chief executive of OPT, “and the latest example of OPT’s lead in turning wave energy technology into a commercial reality worldwide.”

The companies will seek additional funding to complete the project, but did not say if it would come from private or public sources.

Martin Ferguson, resources and energy minister of Australia, says the funds will come from the federal Renewable Energy Demonstration Program. The program finances clean energy development with the aim of meeting the government’s target of generating 20% of the country’s energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

OPT is based in Pennington, New Jersey.