TWO world-first hydrokinetic turbines designed and made in Noosa were put to the test in the Noosa River last week with outstanding results.

Designer Paul Camilleri, of NextEra Energy, said the water-powered turbines, which produce clean energy, performed almost three times better than expected.

"We have seen absolutely outstanding results," he said.

"At three knots they produced 123kw of power and we were expecting them to only produce 50kw at five knots - so that's nearly three times better than we expected.

"I created a mathematical model and from that have had a look at all the loads that have been imposed on it and we're absolutely excited.

"This is just the prototype so once we refine the design and the materials, I think we will see results increase 15% again."

Mr Camilleri said the results meant the turbines had even more applications.

"We thought that they would only work well in fast-flowing rivers but these results show that in currents of less than one knot we can generate power," he said.

"We were quite staggered."

The company already has a multi-million contract to produce 80 turbines for the Indonesian Government and expects more national and international orders to flood in.

The turbines will be manufactured locally at Noosa Engineering, which will be expanded to address the added workload and more staff will be employed.

Noosa MP Glen Elmes said the environmentally- friendly invention had both local and worldwide applications.

"North of the Daintree there's no electric power - it's all diesel-generated," Mr Elmes said.

"You don't have to go to Aceh (in Indonesia) to find the opportunities.

"This can even be used in bodies of water moving through a pipe system ... anywhere in the world where there's a flow of water you can generate power.

"Anything that generates clean power these days is a good thing," he said.