The Guangzhou Energy Conversion Institute – part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences – is studying the feasibility of integrating wave, wind and solar energy into power systems to meet users’ daily needs and support development in disputed waters.

Wang Zhenpeng, associate professor and GEIC team member, said Thursday that the project aims to prove the feasibility of producing large-scale renewable energy technologies in the deep sea.

“This initiative builds on previous IPCC efforts in the field of wave power generation devices, responding to energy shortages during the development process of remote islands,” Wang said.

China’s nine-point claims cover much of the South China Sea, overlapping with competing claims by most other countries in the region. The waters not only contain resource wealth, but they are also of great strategic importance and are a source of tension between neighboring claimants.