OPENHYDRO, THE wave-energy company backed by One51 and Emera, has begun generating electricity for the British national grid.

The firm announced yesterday that its turbine off the Scottish coast at Orkney was connected to the British grid on Monday and was generating power.

The turbine generates 250 kilowatts of electricity, roughly enough power for 250 homes, according to industry guidelines.

OpenHydro's turbine is located at the European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) off Orkney. The company said Emec personnel had confirmed that the turbine had been connected to the grid and had begun to generate electricity.

OpenHydro designs and manufactures turbines at a facility in Greenore, Co Louth. Yesterday, chief executive James Ives said the company was "delighted" at reaching this milestone.

Last February, Canadian power company Emera paid €10.2 million for a 7 per cent stake in OpenHydro. The deal valued the overall business at €145 million.

The Emera investment put a value of more than €16 million on the 11 per cent stake held by One51, the investment vehicle backed by former Iaws chief executive Philip Lynch.

Emera is one of Canada's biggest power companies, with profits of more than 150 million Canadian dollars (€96 million) last year.

OpenHydro has raised more than €50 million since 2005 to pay for the commercial development of its turbines.

The company, which employs 26 staff, recently began manufacturing a one-megawatt turbine. This is four times bigger than the turbine off Orkney.