Renewable Energy says to turn profit in 2008

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Renewable Energy Holdings plc (REH.L) expects to turn a profit in 2008 after selling the rights to its wave energy technology in Australia, Chief Executive Mike Proffitt said on Monday to Reuters.

Renewable, which uses ocean waves to generate electricity and operates windfarms and landfills, reported 2007 losses of 1.5 million pounds ($2.98 million), "significantly" better than the 2.3 million pounds loss it expected, as revenues rose to 4.6 million pounds.

Shares of Renewable, which got 4.75 million pounds from the sale, rose 3.4 percent to 45.5 pence at 1041 GMT.

The company plans to increase its wind power generating capacity fourfold to 150 MW within two years, Proffitt added.

Wave-generated energy is expected to produce 60 MW within two years, he added, depending on the outcome of tests and the time taken to conduct environmental impact assessments, he added.

The UK government is aiming for a tenth of total electricity production to come from renewable sources by 2010, a government white paper shows, from roughly 5 percent now.

But that is poor compared with countries like Portugal where mainly wind-powered sources already provide 41 per cent of total electricity production. (Reporting by Hsu Chuang Khoo; Editing by David Cowell)