Credit crunch threatens to sink Portuguese wave energy project

The world’s first commercial wave energy project is on the brink of collapse after its main backer went into administration last week, casting doubt over the future of a project that has already been dogged by technical problems.

The Aguacadoura project was a joint venture between Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power, Australian energy developer Babcock & Brown, Energias de Portugal (EdP) and Portuguese electrical engineering firm Efacec.

But Australian-listed investment specialist Babcock and Brown, a majority investor in the