List of wave power projects

This article contains a list of proposed and prototype wave power devices, also called wave energy converters (WEC). Some of these have only been tested at small scale for short periods. Many of these technologies are no longer actively being developed. The projects with a section heading were reviewed and updated in mid-2024, while information on those in the table at the end may be more out-of-date.

The projects have been grouped into three categories:


 * 1) Actively being developed
 * 2) Not actively being developed, with no updates for a few years
 * 3) Defunct technologies or companies

Azura wave power device tested in Hawaii
Azura Wave Power is based in New Plymouth, and has been developing wave energy since 2006. The TRL5/6 Azura wave power device was tested at the US Navy Wave Energy Test Site Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The 45-ton wave energy converter was located offshore, in a water depth of 30 m. It provided 20 kW of electrical power to the local grid for 18 months from September 2016. This concept was found to be too expensive, so Azura are now working on a smaller-scale device to produce both electricity and potable water.

Anaconda Wave Energy Converter
Developed by Checkmate SeaEnergy, based in Sheerness, the surface-following attenuator device is a long rubber tube which is tethered underwater. Passing waves will instigate a wave inside the tube, which will then propagates down its walls, driving a turbine at the far end. The full-scale device is expected to be around 200 m long and 7 m in diameter.

The Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton were involved in developing the device, including tank testing a 1:30 scale model at the DHI basin. Checkmate SeaEnergy received funding between 2015 and 2017 from the Wave Energy Scotland Novel Wave Energy Converter programme stages 1 and 2 to further develop their concept. The company announced in January 2024 they plan to test a 1:12 scale model.

CETO
CETO is a submerged point-absorber buoy tethered to the seabed, developed by the Australian company Carnegie Clean Energy Ltd.

In 2008, a CETO5 was tested off Fremantle, Western Australia. This device consists of a single piston pump attached to the sea floor with a float (buoy) tethered to the piston. Waves cause the float to rise and fall, generating pressurized water, which is piped to an onshore facility to drive hydraulic generators or run reverse osmosis water desalination.

Irish subsidiary, CETO Wave Energy Ireland, is further developing the CETO technology in the EuropeWave project. In April 2024, they secured a berth at BiMEP in northern Spain to test there in 2025.

Crestwing
Danish company Crestwing ApS is developing a hinged-raft surface-following attenuator WEC. The device consists of two floats connected by a hinge and uses the atmospheric pressure acting on its large surface to stick to the ocean. This allows it to follow the waves, using the motion of the two floats to convert both kinetic and potential energy to electricity by a mechanical power take-off system.

In 2014, a 1:5 scale model was tested in the sea near Frederikshavn. In 2017 the successor, a full-scale prototype was ready to be tested. It was claimed the device will break the waves and draw the power from it in such a way, it gives it an extra function as a coastal protection device in exposed coastal areas.

In 2023, Cresting partnered with Aalborg University (AAU), Shipcon, and Logimatic Engineering to further develop the technology, including further tank testing at the AAU Wind and Wave laboratory in Esbjerg.

HiWave-5
HiWave-5 is an array demonstration project by Swedish developer CorPower Ocean, to deploy, demonstrate and certify an array of point-absorber WECs at the Aguçadoura test site in Portugal. The project is being conducted in phases, (1) a single C4 full-scale device, and (2) an array with three additional C5 devices. The timescales for these were initially 2019 to 2022, and 2022 to 2024 respectively, however this appears to have slipped somewhat. A 300 kW rated power C4 was deployed at sea in September 2023.

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Wave Energy Program
The Wave Energy Group at Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras, funded by the Department of Ocean Development, Government of India built, operated, instrumented, and tested a 150 kW oscillating water column (OWC). This was a nearshore bottom-standing caisson, with different turbines tested over a period of multiple decades to 1991. It was located in Vizhinjam, Kerala, and provided power to the grid, however it was eventually decommissioned. Since the wave power in the equatorial region where this device was tested was low about 13 kW/m, the choice was for a multi-functional breakwater unit that could provide a safe harbor for fishing vessels and produce power more economically by sharing the costs of the structure. Electric power pumped to the grid was demonstrated. The group has also researched directly producing desalinated water and thermal storage using refrigeration. These technologies alleviate the need for an electric grid and demonstrate alternate power generation appropriate for the location.

In November 2022, a team from IIT Madras demonstrated the Sindhuja-I ocean wave energy converter about 6 km off the coast of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. Located in a water depth of 20 m, it produces only 100 watts of power, but the researchers hope to scale this up to a megawatt.

Lysekil Project
The Lysekil Project is an ongoing wave energy research project by the Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Conversion at Uppsala University in Sweden. It is located to the south of Lysekil, on the west coast approximately 100 km (62 mi) north of Gothenburg. The first WEC was deployed in 2006, and as of February 2024 there were 11 WECs located on the site, with a total capacity of 260 kW.

The WECs are point-absorber buoys, with a direct-drive linear generator placed on the seabed, connected to a buoy at the surface via a line. The movements of the buoy drive the translator in the generator.

Ocean Grazer WEC
The Ocean Grazer concept has been developed by the University of Groningen in The Netherlands since 2014, and now by a spin-out company Ocean Grazer BV. Wave energy is captured with multiple hydraulic pistons linked to floating buoys. Other sources of energy capture could also be used. These convert the motion of the sea into hydraulic head, which in turn drives a hydroelectric turbine.

, Ocean Grazer appear to be focusing on their "Ocean Battery" undersea pumped-storage hydropower concept, working with consultant engineers Stantec.

OE Buoy
The OE Buoy is a floating oscillating water column WEC with an air turbine, developed by Ocean Energy Ltd. in Cork, Ireland since 2002. A 1/4 scale device was tested at the Ocean Energy Test Site in Galway Bay between December 2006 and September 2009. A full-scale OE35 buoy is to be tested at the US Navy's Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, albeit delayed since the original 2019 plans. It is also proposed to test a further OE35 at EMEC in 2025.

Not actively being developed
The following projects or technologies do not appear to actively being developed, with no updates in several years, however formal announcement of cessation is not clear.

Albatern WaveNET
Albatern Ltd was established in 2010 to develop the WaveNET multi-point-absorber array, based in Roslin, Midlothian. Development of the technology has stalled since 2016.

The WaveNET comprises multiple "Squid" units which are coupled into an array, reportedly giving a non-linear increase in power, with the array extracting energy from multiple waves passing through. Each of the Squid units has three buoyant floats attached to a central post via rigid linking arms. These have articulating pump units at either end that generate hydraulic power, which is then converted to electrical power. The units tested "Series-6" had a central post 6 m high and generated 7.5 kW per Squid unit. A larger Series-12 was in development, 12 m high with a rated power of 75 kW. The company expected to further scale up in future to Series-24 at 24 m high and 750 kW, with 135 units in an array covering 250 m by 1250 m producing 100 MW.

In 2014, Albatern were working with their third iteration devices with a 14-week deployment on a Scottish fish-farm site, and a 6 unit array deployment for full characterisation at Kishorn Port in 2015. Initially working with smaller devices and arrays, the company was targeting off grid markets where diesel generation is presently used in offshore fish farms, coastal communities and long endurance scientific platforms. Demonstration projects were under development for fish-farm sites and an island community.

In November 2015, Albatern received funding through stage 1 of the Wave Energy Scotland Novel Wave Energy Converter programme for their WaveNET Series-12. They did not progress to stage 2.

AMOG, AEP WEC
The AMOG, AEP WEC is a surface dynamic vibration absorber, it has a barge shaped hull with an in-air pendulum tuned to absorb the wave motion. It is developed by an Australian engineering company called AMOG Consulting. The device was named AEP WEC after Professor Andrew E Potts, who founded AMOG Consulting.

A 1/3rd scale device was successfully deployed in the European 2019 summer at FaBTest, in Falmouth Bay, Cornwall, UK. Financial support for the deployment came from the Marine-i scheme under the European Union Regional Development Grant and Cornwall Development Company. The device was built by Mainstay Marine in Wales, installed by KML from SW England. A power take-off (PTO) is situated on top of the pendulum with electricity generated and dissipated locally through immersion heaters submerged in the seawater. The device's maximum rating is 75 kW.

The pendulum is a tuned mass damper that captures kinetic energy as the device moves. One of the claimed benefits of this device is that it has no moving parts below the water line. Smaller scale models were also tested in tanks at AMC/University of Tasmania and the University of Plymouth COAST basin.

Atmocean
Atmocean Inc., based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA developed an array of small buoys that capture wave energy for a zero-electricity reverse/osmosis (ZER/O) system.

The Atmocean array consists of 15, 3m diameter surface buoys. Instead of direct seafloor connections, the entire array is anchored at 6 points. Each buoy uses passing waves to pump seawater into the system and send it onshore where it goes directly into a reverse osmosis desalination process without the need for an external energy source. Advantages of smaller modular system include using standard shipping containers and small boat operations.

Two full scale trials were deployed off the coast of Ilo, Peru in 2015, for three weeks and six months respectively.

CalWave
CalWave Power Technologies, Inc. based in California, is developing a submerged pressure differential wave energy device, which can operate at various water depths and distance from shore. The company tested a 1:20 scale prototype in 2016.

In September 2021, CalWave commissioned its pilot x1 device off the coast of San Diego. The testing was planed to last 6 months, but was extended to 10 months. CalWave expect to test a 100 kW x100 device at PacWave off the coast of Oregon.

In March 2024, CalWave was selected to be the technology used in an indigenous-led project in Yuquot, British Columbia. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations project has funding from the TD Bank Group, and aims to be a first-of-the-kind project for coastal community micro-grids powered by wave energy.

Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter
The Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter is a wave energy concept being developed by Atargis Energy Corporation in Colorado. The patents were filed in 2005, and the company was founded in 2010, after initial research showed potential. It is a fully submerged wave termination device, located offshore, with a direct drive generator.

It has reached the tank testing stage of development. The proposed device would be a 20 m diameter fully submerged rotor with two hydrofoils. Numerical studies have shown greater than 99% wave power termination capabilities. These were confirmed by experiments in a small 2D wave flume, as well as a large offshore wave basin.

In November 2019, Atargis Energy was awarded funding by the US Department of Energy for a three-year project to further develop and demonstrate the concept.

FlanSea (Flanders Electricity from the Sea)
FlanSea was a three-year research project that commenced in 2010, between the Ghent University and six Flemish enterprises. The aim was to develop a point absorber buoy developed for use in the southern North Sea conditions, with moderate wave conditions. It works by means of a cable tethered to the seabed that due to the bobbing effect of the buoy, spools a cable around a winch and generates electricity.

Between April and December 2013, a "Wave Pioneer" device was tested near the Port of Ostend. This device was 4.4 m in diameter, 5 m high, and weighed 25 tonnes. In 2014, there were plans for a Wave Pioneer II.

Neptune Wave Engine
The Neptune Wave Engine has been developed by Neptune Equipment Corp. in Vancouver, Canada since 2010, when they found they were not able to purchase a wave power system for their cottage.

Wave energy is captured with multiple float-pistons constrained to move vertically up and down piles, informally called "doughnut on a stick". Reciprocation motion of float-piston is converted to one way rotation motion by patented direct-drive PTO with allows for power to be applied to generator from both the up and down strokes. It has multiple point absorbers, and is designed to work near shore, in small waves, 0.1 to 5 m (4 in. to 16 ft.).

By 2017, five full-size test units had been deployed, page 55. The sixth, deployed September 24–25, 2019 includes the "Vancouver Wave Energy Testing Station" for 3rd parties to verify with their own equipment that the corporation's claims for continuous "firm" electricity output and to verify how much electricity is output from waves of various sizes.

In 2021, the latest version was tested, with a 3 m diameter, 2 m deep float that weighs 10 tonnes. It is capable of producing up to 20 kW, but has only ever produced 12 kW and that was during a storm, typically it produces 1–4 kW.

Wave Dragon
The Wave Dragon is an overtopping WEC concept developed in Denmark since 1998, with a 1:4.5 scale prototype tested between 2003 and 2010. With the Wave Dragon, large wing reflectors focus waves up a ramp into an offshore reservoir. The water returns to the ocean by the force of gravity via hydroelectric generators.

In May 2003, it became the first offshore wave energy converter, connected to the Danish electricity grid.

Zyba Renewables — CCell
Zyba Renewables Ltd. is a UK based wave energy developer.

The CCell is a directional WEC consisting of a curved flap operating mainly in the surge direction of wave propagation. Being curved gives the device two advantages over flat paddle oscillating wave surge converters: the energy is dissipated over a long arc reducing the wave height, and the shape cuts through the waves which reduces turbulence on the boundaries. In addition, unlike other oscillating wave surge converters, the latest version of CCell is designed to float just under the water surface, maximising the available wave energy. The developers claim this makes CCell the world's most efficient wave energy device.

Zyba was awarded funding by Wave Energy Scotland for Stage 1 of the Novel Wave Energy Convertor call in 2015, but the project did not progress to Stage 2.

In 2017, Zyba partnered with Biorock to produce artificial coral reefs using wave energy.

Defunct, decommissioned or company no longer trading
The following projects have formally ceased, been decommissioned, or the company is no longer trading.

AWS-III
The AWS-III was developed by Scottish company AWS Ocean Energy between 2008 and 2014.

The concept was a floating toroidal vessel. Rubber membranes on the outer faces would deform as waves pass, moving air inside chambers which in turn drive air-turbines to generate electricity. AWS Ocean tested a 1/9 scale model in Loch Ness in 2010. The full sized version was planned to be 60m across and generate 2.5 MW, installed in offshore farms moored in around 100m depth of water.

AquaBuOY
The AquaBuOY was a point-absorber WEC developed by Finavera Renewables Inc..

In September 2007, the AquaBuOY 2.0 was deployed approximately 2.5 mi off the coast of Newport, Oregon. The device used hose-pumps, a high pressure accumulator, and a Pelton hydro turbine to convert wave motion into electrical power.

In 2009 Finavera Renewables surrendered its wave energy permits from FERC. In July 2010 Finavera announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell all assets and intellectual property related to the AquaBuOY wave energy technology.

Islay LIMPET
The Islay LIMPET was a shoreline oscillating water column wave power station located on Islay, Scotland. It generated power to the national grid between 2000 and 2012, after which it was decommissioned. It used the motion of the incoming waves to drive air in and out of a concrete pressure chamber through a Wells turbine.

Oceanlinx
Oceanlinx was an Australian company that developed shoreline and offshore oscillating water column wave energy plants with variable-pitch bladed air turbines.

Several prototypes were testes at Port Kembla in New South Wales from 2005. The third medium scale demonstration unit near Port Kembla, was grid connected in early 2010. In May 2010, the wave energy generator snapped from its mooring lines in extreme seas and sank on Port Kembla's eastern breakwater.

A 1 MW "GreenWave" prototype was constructed in Port Adelaide, intended to be installed in Port MacDonnell some 450 km south-east. However, during transport in March 2014, rough seas caused damage to the air bags floating the 3000 tonne concrete structure and it sank, damaging it beyond repair.

Founded in 1997 as Energetech, it rebranded as Oceanlinx in 2007 and went into liquidation in 2014 following the GreenWave incident.

OWEL
Ocean Wave Energy Ltd (OWEL) developed a floating offshore wave surge converter type WEC, receiving funding from Innovate UK between 2011 and 2016 to develop the concept and test at Wave Hub.

The device consists of a floating tapered duct, with the large end open to capture incoming waves. The surging motion of long period waves compresses air in the duct, which is then used to drive a uni-directional air turbine mounted on top of the floating vessel. The design of a full scale demonstration project was completed in Spring 2013, ready for fabrication, however this does not appear to have happened.

Oyster wave energy converter
Aquamarine Power developed and tested two versions of their Oyster WEC, an oscillating wave surge converter. This was a hinged mechanical flap attached to the seabed that captured the energy of nearshore waves. It drove hydraulic pistons to deliver high pressure water to an onshore turbine which generates electricity. In November 2009, the first full-scale demonstrator Oyster began producing power at the European Marine Energy Centre's wave test site at Billia Croo in Orkney. In 2015, Aquamarine entered administration.

Pelamis Wave Energy Converter
Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power developed multiple iterations of their Pelamis "Sea Snake" WEC. As waves pass along a series of semi-submerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints, the sections move relative to one another. This motion activates hydraulic cylinders which pump high pressure oil through hydraulic motors which drive electrical generators. The first working Pelamis machine was installed in 2004 at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney. Here, it became the world's first offshore wave energy device to generate electricity into a national grid anywhere in the world. The later P2, owned by E.ON, started grid connected tests off Orkney in 2010. The company went into administration in November 2014, and the device is no longer being developed.

Seatricity Oceanus
UK company Seatricity Ltd. developed the Oceanus WEC. The device consisted of a floating buoy which follows the waves and a piston pump tethered to the seabed. This pumps seawater to an onshore facility to drive hydraulic generators or run reverse osmosis water desalination.

An initial prototype was tested in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Antigua. This was followed by tests of a full-scale prototype Oceanus 1 at the EMEC Billia Croo site between 2013 and 2014. The Oceanus 2 was built by A&P Falmouth in 2014, deployed at Wave Hub in May 2016, and was a 162 kW machine. The Oceanus 2 device is the first and only device yet to have been deployed and tested at the UK's WaveHub test site as a full-scale prototype (2014-2016). This 3rd generation device consists of a single patented piston pump mounted on a gimbal and supported by an aluminium 12m diameter buoy/float.

Seatricity had plans for a 10 MW array comprising 60 devices, but this was never built. The company was dissolved in June 2022.

Wavebob
Wavebob was a point-absorber WEC which was developed in Ireland between 1999 and 2013, when the company ceased trading after running out of money.

The Wavebob buoy consisted of two main concentric parts, with power generated by their relative motion in the waves. It is an ocean-going heaving buoy, with a submerged tank which captures additional mass of seawater for added power and tunability, and as a safety feature (Tank "Venting") allowing it to ride out storms.

Wavebob conducted ocean trials at The Ocean Energy Test Site in Galway Bay, as well as extensive tank tests.