Wave energy captures kinetic energy from ocean surface waves and converts it into usable electricity. Driven by the interaction of wind and water, this renewable source offers a highly predictable energy profile compared to intermittent renewables like solar or wind power. Wave energy remains a relatively young technology, unlike established sources. Deployment is highly regionalized, focusing on specific geographical areas with intense wave resources and supportive infrastructure. Global utilization is currently defined by exploratory development and concentrated innovation rather than widespread commercial power generation.
Global Status of Wave Energy Deployment
Global wave energy activity focuses predominantly on testing and demonstrating various technologies rather than utility-scale commercial operation. Total installed capacity worldwide remains small, classifying the industry as largely pre-commercial. This phase involves testing full-scale prototypes in real-sea conditions to prove reliability and reduce energy production costs. Investment and governmental interest are concentrated in developed nations with lengthy coastlines exposed to strong, consistent ocean swells.
These projects are often supported by public funding mechanisms designed to bridge the gap between academic research and commercial viability. While the ultimate goal is to connect large wave farms to national electrical grids, many deployments serve as smaller, specialized power sources. This includes off-grid applications such as powering remote islands, providing clean electricity for offshore aquaculture, or enabling oceanographic monitoring equipment. The industry’s maturity is measured by technological advancement rather than by significant contributions to the global energy supply.
Major Research and Testing Centers
The majority of wave energy use occurs within specialized, government-backed testing infrastructure designed to accelerate technological development. Europe, particularly Atlantic-facing nations, is a global leader due to strong regional funding and high-energy wave resources.
European Testing Centers
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), located in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, is a primary example. EMEC provides developers with fully consented, grid-connected test berths at its Billia Croo wave site, where devices are subjected to the powerful wave climate of the North Atlantic Ocean. Further south, the Basque Country in Spain hosts the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP), another pre-permitted site for testing wave energy converters. This infrastructure, along with similar test centers in Portugal, forms a continuous European innovation hub known for its collaborative, multi-country funding programs like EuropeWave. These sites offer the necessary physical infrastructure, such as subsea cables and onshore substations, allowing developers to test devices at full scale and export power to the local grid. Ireland is also developing the Atlantic Marine Energy Test Site (AMETS) off the Mayo coast to facilitate full-scale open-ocean testing.
North America and Australia
The United States has established the PacWave South facility off the coast of Newport, Oregon. This is the first facility in the US designed for utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy testing in federal waters. PacWave South offers multiple test berths where developers can deploy their prototypes and connect to a power cable running seven miles offshore to the local electrical grid. The US West Coast is targeted due to its energetic Pacific Ocean wave resource, providing a robust testing environment for various device types. Australia also plays a notable role, with a concentration of research in Western and Southern Australia where Southern Ocean swells provide an ideal wave climate. Organizations like the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have developed tools like a digital Wave Atlas to support the industry. These dedicated testing facilities worldwide are the geographical centers of wave energy utilization, where the technology is refined before large-scale deployment.
Operational Wave Energy Sites
While much activity focuses on research, a few locations have transitioned to long-term operational sites demonstrating wave power generation.
Fixed Coastal Installations
The Mutriku Breakwater Wave Plant in the Basque Country of Spain is one of the world’s longest-running grid-connected wave facilities. Integrated directly into a harbor breakwater, the plant has operated since 2011. It uses 16 air chambers to capture wave energy via Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology, with an installed capacity of 296 kilowatts. This demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating wave energy into coastal defense structures. Another deployment type utilizes existing coastal structures, such as the onshore arrays developed by Eco Wave Power. These systems use floaters attached to breakwaters or piers to convert wave motion into hydraulic pressure. Operational examples can be found in Gibraltar and at Jaffa Port in Israel, where smaller-scale, grid-connected installations are generating power for local use. A pilot version of this onshore technology was also recently deployed at the Port of Los Angeles.
Open Ocean Pilots
In Portugal, the Atlantic coast continues to host significant operational pilots. The HiWave-5 project near Aguçadoura includes the deployment of a 300-kilowatt wave energy converter, representing a new generation of point absorber technology. Australia has deployed CETO technology off Western Australia, a system using submerged buoys to generate power and, in some cases, desalinate water. These individual operational installations, though small compared to traditional power plants, represent wave energy’s presence in the global power infrastructure.