JINAN - China is planning to construct three ocean energy test sites off the coast of Shandong, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, authorities said Thursday.

The three test sites will serve as a testing ground for ocean power generators and support the development of the marine energy industry, Xia Dengwen, vice-head of the national center for marine technology under the State Oceanic Administration, said during a forum in Weihai city, Shandong province.

The three sites will be located at the Weihai Port in Shandong, Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang and Wanshan Islands in Guangdong. The Weihai site will be a shallow water test site. The Zhoushan and Wanshan sites will focus on tidal current energy and wave energy respectively, Xia said.

China has an estimated marine energy reserve of more than 1.58 billion kilowatt-hours, with the potential to harness 650 million kilowatt-hours. Developing ocean energy can help ease the power shortage in the coastal areas.

China established a special fund for renewable ocean energy in May 2010. The fund has invested about 1 billion yuan ($163.4 million) in supporting 96 programs so far.