Let me give you a brief background on how this energy is transferred and why the mere presence of the magnets is NOT ENOUGH to generate electricity. Of course the shaft needs to be moving as well. WHY?
Power, induced by a magnetic field can only be transferred if it is cyclical in nature (alternating current). Also, it should be pointed out the MAGNETS are held stationary and a COIL is "wrapped" around the shaft in such a way that when the shaft rotates, its position relative to the magnets rotates. THERE IS YOUR 'CYCLICAL' MAGNETIC FIELD. Remember, you can only have power generation by a TIME or POSITION varying magnetic field. In this case, it is a position varying magnetic field.
To put it another way, if you were to have a magnet in your hand and were able to move the magnet "fairly quickly" back and forth very closely to a coil of insulated copper wire, you will most certainly generate an EMF (voltage) across the terminals of that coil.
Now consider this: The stationary magnets and the rotating coil are NOT IN ANY SORT OF MECHANICAL CONTACT. But, if you were to attach a light bulb or some other appliance to this generator, the shaft will most certainly "feel" a mechanical resistance to it. If it did not create resistance to the shaft than you could, theoretically, power the entire planets power needs with one alternator from a car. Of course, you cannot since you would be violating the most important thermodynamic law, ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED OR DESTROYED. It can only be transferred from one place to another. If E truly does equal mc(squared)..... E=mc^2 ... than perhaps I should rephrase my previous statement to read; NEITHER ENERGY NOR MATTER CAN TRULY BE DESTROYED only transferred, as governed by the above equation.
All the generators have permanent magnets inside them. Generators are much like eletric motors just working "other way". In simple means to create electricity you need an inductor which can be for example copper wire around or other similar material folded in a spring and then you need a magnetic field. To create electricity from those = voltage difference you need to be able to change magnetic fields charge from positive to negative.. Video explains this quite well.. anyhow
Permanent magnets are not capable of producing electricity just by them selfs.. key is to have a change of magnetic field to have produce the electricity. and this is simplest to do by moving magnets=positive field to negative etc... and this is also the thing why you need wind mill / water to create this physical move.
All generators, whether they use permanent magnets or electro-magnets, produce electricity by moving a magnetic field across a conductor. The effect is EXACTLY the same whether you use permanent magnets or electro-magnets.
You still must provide energy to move the magnetic field, by moving the magnets themselves, or by moving the conductors. (It works either way.)
This energy to move the magnetic field has to come from somewhere - it's not free.
It can come from a steam turbine (like in a nuclear or coal fired power plant) or from falling water (like a hydro-electric dam), or from a spinning windmill, but it has to come from SOMEWHERE. There is no free energy.
The ONLY difference in using permanent magnets is that they don't consume any of the electricity that they generate. A generator that creates its own magnetic field uses some of the energy it generates to create a magnetic field. So, the permanent magnet generator puts out a little more usable energy than conventional electro-magnet generators. But this small advantage is more than outweighed by the higher cost of the permanent magnets. (There are other downsides, too.)
If it were really better, don't you think someone would be using it? It's not new science at all - in fact, it's very old.