# Wave energy converters: Correlation

Prices it moves with, and why

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/correlation/

Wave energy converters are still at trial stage, so costs reflect one-off devices, steel hulls, moorings, subsea cables and survival in storms. Revenue depends on subsidies and coastal power prices rather than a market.
 No public price Wave energy converters has no public monthly price series: Only trial devices; no commercial price or index.

#### What its price moves with

 Commodity [St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)Main input

Hulls, moorings and anchors are steel and must be heavy to survive storms. Steel prices are a large part of the cost of each converter. Corrosion protection adds further cost.
 Not enough overlapping price history to measure.

 Energy [Cab Underground, submarine and superconducting cables](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_cables/)Main input

Subsea cables bring power ashore and are a large cost for small arrays. Sharing cables with other offshore projects is a way to cut this cost. Grid connection points on the coast are also scarce.
 Not enough overlapping price history to measure.

 Commodity [Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)Main input

Generators and cables use copper. For early devices with low output, copper cost per unit of power is high. Corrosion-resistant coatings and seals add further cost to these parts at sea.
 Not enough overlapping price history to measure.

 Energy [WOf Offshore wind](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_offshore_wind/)Shared supply chain

Wave projects use the same ports, vessels and cables as offshore wind. Offshore wind growth builds the supply chain but also bids up vessel and cable prices. Shared sites are being studied.
 Not enough overlapping price history to measure.

How to read these numbers

**Correlation of monthly changes** (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak.

**12-month changes** compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs.

**Price function** is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)^β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation.

**Lead or lag** checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months.

Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link.

Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/overview/index.md)
- [Efficiency](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/efficiency/index.md)
- [Techniques](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/techniques/index.md)
- [Resources and labour](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/resources/index.md)
- [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/biosphere/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_wave_power/links/index.md)