by business editor Trevor Sturgess

A Sheerness-based firm is making
waves in the quest to generate energy from the sea.

Checkmate Group has invested more than half a million pounds in the Anaconda project which uses flexible rubber tubes to harness wave power.

It founded Checkmate Seaenergy to develop the revolutionary project at its plant in Melksham, Wiltshire. The new business is headed by chief executive Des Crampton, former managing director of Medway Ports covering Sheerness and Chatham Docks.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York,

recently visited the Melksham premises to see small-scale models of

the Anaconda.

Eventually the tubes could be 200
metres long, with up to 50 arranged in "farms" in suitable
locations across the world. One farm could generate enough energy
for 50,000 homes. The first could be in place by 2014.

Anacondas would contribute to the
Government's target of reducing carbon emissions by 34 per cent by
2020.

Paul Auston, chairman of the
Checkmate Group, winner of Queen's Awards for innovation and
international sales, hopes some of the trialling will be done off
the Kent coast. He said the company would be seeking investment of
around £10million this summer to take the project to the next
stage.

Eventually, it should create many
jobs, although not necessarily in Kent. "It will be a very
significant employer, with 100s, potentially thousands, of jobs
because it isn’t just about manufacturing, it’s about design,
installation and maintenance," he said.

Mr Auston founded Checkmate Group
more than 20 years ago and has made it a cutting edge business
specialising in life-saving equipment for the construction
industry, rubber engineering and specialist marine products for
lifting, stowage and lashing.

He said: "This is the most exciting
big project I’ve ever been involved in because of its scale and it
has the potential to create green energy beyond my lifetime.

"Wave power has always been the poor relation of wind power and
yet arguably has much greater potential and less environmental
impact."