An Israeli firm WERPO is planning to generate 500 MW of sea wave power capacity as part of moves to ease the erratic power supply in Ghana.

The Israeli firm’s director Shmuel Ovadia said they are hoping to rake in “tens of millions of dollars” in revenues from the installations.

WERPO, which stands for Wave Electricity Renewable Power Ocean, holds the intellectual property, technology, know-how and contracts previously associated with Israel-based sea wave power firm SDE Ltd.

The company has similar joint ventures in China and the Caribbean.

According to SeeNews Renewables, the company has already built nine wave power devices in Israel and two models in China, but none of its power stations have started commercial operations yet.

Meanwhile, a test trial of the first phase of power generation using energy from the sea waves in Ghana will begin next month.

The test trial will start with eight megawatts of power and systematically increase until it reaches the intended 1,000MW by December 2015.

Installation works on the six-power generation converters at the Ada Estuary in the Greater Accra Region are about 85 per cent complete.

The wave-powered system will generate power which will cost less compared to Ghana’s current power sources which include hydro and thermal energy.