Wave energy converters
Devices that turn the motion of waves into electricity.
Capture · Water and ocean · No. 31
- Capture
- Output: Electricity
Europe has installed 13.5 MW of wave machines since 2010, and 12.6 MW of them have already been pulled out.
Chart: Illustration: Wave energy converters
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Waves are wind energy stored in the sea. Machines absorb it by bobbing, flexing, rocking or squeezing air, with tested efficiencies from a few per cent to over 50%.
Three things to know
- Five rival designs, from bobbing buoys to rocking seabed flaps, are all still at prototype or demonstration stage.
- Spain's Mutriku plant hides 16 air turbines inside a harbour breakwater and generated 210 MWh in 2024.
- Monitoring has never recorded a marine animal tangled in wave-device moorings, and noise at today's scale is treated as low risk.
The journey
- 1 WindBlowing over the sea raises waves
- 2 WavesRising, falling and surging water
- 3 DeviceBuoy, flap, air column, ramp or attenuator
- 4 Power take-offAir turbine, hydraulics or linear generator
- 5 Subsea cableCarries electricity to shore