The rolling waves and invigorating winds that caress the sandy Yefengzhai beach in Xiamen are well-known tourist attractions in the coastal city in Fujian province.

Wu Mingmao visits the beach every day, not to enjoy the natural beauty, but to test his latest invention£­a 100-kilowatt generator that works by wave power.

The entrepreneur has been testing the installation near the beach since December. The mechanical platform that floats on the surface of the water and harnesses wave power, which is then converted into electricity, is scheduled to be fully operational at the end of the month. The 58-year-old, who dived into the wave-power industry in 2003 and is now the general manager of Zhong Hui Ming Electricity Ltd, a private, venture capital-owned company based in Xiamen, said the platform's unique design could prove to be a breakthrough in harnessing wave energy.

Unlike conventional wave-power generators, the installation isn't a sealed unit and has a buoy at each of its four corners, so the forces operating on it are spread evenly and no single spot is subjected to concentrated pressure, Wu explained.

"This means the platform is very reliable. It can not only withstand the constant pressure of surging water, but also harsher conditions such as tsunamis and typhoons," he said.

The steel frame of the installation is covered with an antierosion coating, ensuring a relatively long service life. In addition to the buoys that absorb the power of the waves, the installation also includes a number of wind-driven turbines that provide extra energy to the mix.

"The combination of the two different power sources offers a novel solution to the problem of improving efficiency while also reducing the cost. As far as I know, no other devices used in other countries boast those features," Wu said.

Wu said his design is the result of more than a decade of research, but when he first started the project, the former teacher had no practical experience in the field.

In 2010, Wu quit his job as a chemistry teacher in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, and moved to Xiamen to open a business selling a mosquito repellent he had invented. He quickly became fascinated by the city's picturesque coastal views and fell in love with the vast expanse of ocean.

The initial idea for the generator came during the typhoon season, when Wu was impressed by the giant walls of water thrown up by the storm. He remembers being overwhelmed by the power of the ocean. "It was a flash of inspiration. I suddenly realized that I wanted to learn about the country's ocean-energy resources," he recalled, adding that once the initial excitement had abated, doubts surfaced and he was unsure if he would ever complete the project.

Wu spent almost all his spare time reading through archival material and studying books related to energy. His research convinced him that wave power could be far more reliable than other technologies if used correctly.

Wave generators have an advantage over solar technology because they don't have to contend with inconveniences such as overcast skies and can operate 24 hours a day. Energy derived from waves also eclipses wind power because its useful output, which helps to determine the efficiency with which energy is emitted, is far higher, Wu said.

After studying the workings of wave-power generators on the Internet, Wu embarked on his own project in 2003. "Although I didn't travel abroad to consult with foreign experts, I learned about the wide range of concepts and product patterns online," he said.

"But I didn't have as much money as other projects, so I had to be creative to improve the product and reduce the cost," he said.

After a few months, he closed his business and sold his house in Xiamen to concentrate on his wave-power project. He hired three technicians to conduct research and development, and the team group took care of almost all aspects of the business, including design, the purchase of equipment, installation and design adjustment.

The use of a relatively small team meant Wu could personally oversee each member's contribution to the project. "If I'd asked a larger number of people to do the job and they'd misunderstood my orders or failed to complete the task, I would have had to revise it, which would have been a huge waste of time and money," Wu said.

Although he had invested all his money, about 600,000 yuan ($96,000), in the project, a chronic lack of funds often resulted in delays. To plow as much money as possible into the project, Wu ate porridge almost every day and refused to buy new clothes. In 2008, he wrote a letter to Huang Xiaojing, the then governor of Fujian province, explaining the significance of his project and providing detailed plans.

The letter did the trick. The Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission awarded Wu a grant of 150,000 yuan, and the Xiamen city authorities provided 300,000 yuan a year later.

As news of the project spread, Su Fulun, a venture capitalist impressed by Wu's efforts, invested 10 million yuan to help Wu establish Zhong Hui Ming in 2011. Su remains the owner, while Wu oversees all the company's activities.

After hundreds of experiments, Wu eventually began building a definitive model of his machine in January 2013. It was finally erected at Yefengzhai beach in December last year so tests could be conducted.

When the generator finally becomes operational on the ocean surface, the center of focus will be the output data, which will allow Wu and his team to calculate the cost of each kilowatt-hour of electricity, Wu said.

"If the cost is higher than 1 yuan, the experiment will almost certainly have been a failure. However, if it's lower than 0.3 yuan, the company will be able to start producing the generator commercially."

Wu said that if things go well, he expects to promote the product in European countries.

"Wave energy is obviously an alluring idea because it's renewable and doesn't cause pollution," said Dai Shugeng, a professor of economics at Xiamen University, who added that Wu's efforts are worthy of great attention especially as China is restructuring its energy industry with the aim of achieving greener development and cleaner energy.

At the first meeting of the incumbent National Energy Commission in April, Premier Li Keqiang said China will push forward with reforms in energy production and consumption, make energy use greener in line with the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), which highlights the scientific exploration and utilization of ocean resources, to accelerate the development of the marine economy. He Hongzhou, a researcher at the Fujian Provincial Energy Research Society, said that while the ocean contains a huge amount of untapped energy, wave and tidal power only account for a very small percentage of the nation's energy structure.

The development of marine energy is particularly attractive to Fujian because the province has a long coastline and a large number of islands, he said.

The province will invest 760 million yuan in marine-based renewable energy projects, including two offshore windfarm programs in Putian city, this year, according to the Fujian Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

You Yage, chief researcher with the Ocean Energy Laboratory at the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said despite the huge market, the development of wave and tidal power has been hampered because the technology on offer is unpopular.

A range of ocean-power projects are run by institutes or State-owned companies, which are heavily subsidized by the government, but the technology they offer hasn't been widely accepted because the cost is too high, You said.

Because it is very difficult for some deep sea equipment to supply power, the electricity will cost about 1,000 yuan per kWh, a sum far beyond the means of the general public, he said.

"Essentially, it's a commercialization issue. Because of that, Wu's experiment needs to be encouraged. The results are highly anticipated because the platform may greatly reduce the cost of electricity," You said.

He suggested that the government should launch a number of pilot programs aimed at accelerating the commercialization of ocean energy resources in coastal provinces such as Zhejiang and Fujian. Wu said his company is probably the only one in the country involved in both the design and production of wave-power generators.

"If the project succeeds, it may become a model and attract further support from the government," he said.

The entrepreneur said that because private companies often have serious financial shortcomings when engaged in ocean-power projects, they are forced to "make every penny count".

Private enterprises are also likely to focus harder on the business aspects of projects such as alternative energy and be far more efficient, compared with teachers at universities and institutes who are forced to devote a large part of their time to teaching and academic tasks, Wu said.

"I hope more private companies will get in on the act," he said.