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Gothenburg-based cleantech firm Minesto gains more and more international attention for its "underwater kite", a technology for a new type of tidal power plant.

Last year the company made the Time Magazine prestigious “The 50 best Inventions of 2010" list.

Now it has been selected to the U.S. Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization's 2011 Top 15 Utility Solutions. Over 100 companies spanning the clean energy spectrum applied into the annual competition designed to match promising new technologies with investors and early adoption partners.

Minesto -- a spin-off of the Saab Group -- was the only non-US company selected. The company has gained recognition for its electric power station concept that captures the energy caught up in rising and falling tides and ocean currents.

It's main product is called Deep Green. It has been described as a kite that sweeps back and forth in its line.

"Swedish company Minesto's underwater kite resembles a child's toy as it swoops and dives in ocean currents. But since seawater is 800 times as dense as air, the small turbine attached to the kite — which is tethered to the ocean floor — can generate 800 times more energy than if it were in the sky", the Time Magazine wrote.

The 15 semifinalists will attend TechConnect World in Boston on June 14 and present their technologies in a quick pitch session to the evaluation committee, investors, corporate partners, and utilities. A panel of judges will award the top three companies with interviews in their companies and potential testing and demonstration opportunities.