Pacific Gas & Electric has signed a power purchase agreement with Finavera Renewables for 2 megawatts of electricity that will come from a wave farm, CNET reports.
The plan is for the wave farm, to be built off the coast near California’s Humboldt County, to be producing power in 2012.
To generate power, a buoy connected to a long underwater piston bobs up and down on the waves. The buoy pushes the piston, which pressurizes a chamber filled with seawater. The pressure cranks a turbine and electricity is made.