Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC).
An OE Buoy or Ocean Energy Buoy is a floating wave power device that uses an Oscillating Water Column design. It is being developed by Irish company Ocean Energy Ltd., based in Cork, in collaboration with the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre at University College Cork, Queen's University Belfast, and Marine Institute Ireland.
Oceanlinx was a company established in 1997 which specialised in the research and development of ocean-based renewable energy technology. The company's central technology was based on the Wave Energy Converter "WEC" which converts wave energy into electrical energy. Oceanlinx technology focused on the oscillating water column principle, and developed several prototype generators which were deployed and tested in Port Kembla, New South Wales. In 2014, Oceanlinx entered receivership and its technology, intellectual property, brand and trademark were sold to Wave Power Renewables Limited in Hong Kong. Wave Power Renewables Limited has continued to develop the technology, and Oceanlinx's founding director, Tom Denniss has further developed the technology since 2016 as a director of Wave Swell Energy.
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd. is a UKAS accredited test and research centre focused on wave and tidal power development, based in the Orkney Islands off the mainland of Scotland. The centre provides developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in wave and tidal conditions, at pre-consented test sites. EMEC also has sites for testing smaller-scale prototypes in more sheltered conditions.
A floating wind turbine is an offshore wind turbine mounted on a floating structure that allows the turbine to generate electricity in water depths where fixed-foundation turbines are not feasible. Floating wind farms have the potential to significantly increase the sea area available for offshore wind farms, especially in countries with limited shallow waters, such as Spain, Portugal, Japan, France and the United States' West Coast. Locating wind farms further offshore can also reduce visual pollution, provide better accommodation for fishing and shipping lanes, and reach stronger and more consistent winds.
Evopod is a unique tidal energy device being developed by a UK-based company Oceanflow Energy Ltd for generating electricity from tidal streams and ocean currents. It can operate in exposed deep water sites where severe wind and waves also make up the environment.
Marine energy or marine power refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world's oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy, or energy in motion. Some of this energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries.
A tidal stream generator, often referred to as a tidal energy converter (TEC), is a machine that extracts energy from moving masses of water, in particular tides, although the term is often used in reference to machines designed to extract energy from the run of a river or tidal estuarine sites. Certain types of these machines function very much like underwater wind turbines and are thus often referred to as tidal turbines. They were first conceived in the 1970s during the oil crisis.
The Mutriku Breakwater Wave Plant is a wave power plant constructed by Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE), the Basque energy agency, in the bay of Mutriku in the Bay of Biscay. It is the world's first breakwater wave power plant with a multiple turbine arrangement. The plant has a capacity of 296 kW from 16 turbo generator sets. It was inaugurated on July 8, 2011.
MARMOK-A-5 is an offshore electrical power generator that uses wave energy to create electricity. This device is a spar buoy installed in the maritime testing site BiMEP, in the Bay of Biscay. It is the first grid-connected maritime generator in Spain, and one of the first in the world.
Orbital Marine Power is a Scottish renewable energy company focused on the development and global deployment of floating tidal stream turbine technology. The company was founded in 2002, and as of 2024 has built and tested three different turbines.
Many tidal stream generators have been developed over the years to harness the power of tidal currents flowing around coastlines. These are also called tidal stream turbines (TST), tidal energy converters (TEC), or marine hydro-kinetic (MHK) generation. These turbines operate on a similar principle to wind turbines, but are designed to work in a fluid approximately 800 times more dense than air which is moving at a slower velocity. Note that tidal barrages or lagoons operate on a different principle, generating power by impounding the rising and falling tide.
CorPower Ocean AB is a wave energy device developer, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. They also have offices in Oslo, Viana do Castelo, and Stromness. The office in Viana do Castelo is an R&D centre that also serves as the manufacturing and service centre for the wave energy converters (WEC).
The Aguçadoura test site is an offshore location in the north of Portugal where grid connected offshore renewable energy devices have been tested, for research and project demonstration. It is about 5 km (3 miles) off the coast of Aguçadoura, Póvoa de Varzim, about 35 km NNE of central Porto.
The Penguin is a wave energy converter (WEC) which was developed by Finnish company Wello Oy between 2008 and 2023. Two full-scale device were constructed, and tested in Scotland and Spain respectively, although both tests ended in difficulties.
WaveRoller is a wave energy converter (WEC) developed by Finish company AW-Energy Oy since 2002, although the initial concept was developed between 1993 and 1999.
WavePiston is a concept to harness wave power using a long string with collector plates that move with the waves. Hydraulic pumps between the plates pump water onshore, where it can either drive a turbine to create electricity or be used in desalination.
