The utility earlier this week announced it had partnered with Irish green energy company Wavebob to form a joint venture called Tonn Energy that will research and develop commercial-scale ocean wave energy off Ireland's western coast.

"With its magnificent ocean wave resource and commitment by the Government, Ireland has become a focal point for the development of commercial ocean wave energy," Goeran Dandanell, head of business development for Vattenfall UK, said in a statement. "With such a great opportunity to produce clean energy, we are very happy to be a key partner in Ireland's ocean energy program."

Tonn Energy ("Tonn" is Irish for "wave") is to start working on a site planned by Sustainable Energy Ireland, a government-founded company that is investing state money in the necessary infrastructure for renewable energy sources. Dublin is supporting the project also because it falls under its ocean energy program.

Ireland's Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan said Vattenfall's initiative comes at just the right time.

"I have articulated my intention that Ireland, with its unparalleled ocean resources, should become a world leader in renewable energy," he said in a statement. "The participation of a major power utility like Vattenfall, together with the commitment of its Irish partners -- which I applaud -- in Ireland's energy program, marks a further step toward realizing the considerable opportunities represented by our ocean wave energy resource."

Dublin recently said it wants to create 120,000 green jobs over the next few years and has invested in clean energy companies, including Wavebob, to help reach that goal.

Vattenfall with the project aims to reach its own sustainability benchmarks.

"Vattenfall's long term goal is to halve the emissions per produced unit of energy by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, and to be emission neutral by 2050," Dandanell said.

Wave power has been tried and tested for the past 100 years but has yet to succeed on a commercial scale. Irish company Wavebob, which was established by physicist William Dick in 1999, thinks it can change that.

The company for the joint project with Vattenfall is banking on a wave energy converter that uses the lift and fall of waves to act on hydraulic pistons that in turn pump oil to drive generators.

The Wavebob is special in that it automatically adjusts its response to suit the prevailing wave climate and thus maximizes its power generation capacity. The company says this makes wave power more efficient, cheaper, easier to maintain and environmentally less intrusive.

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