Eco Wave Power has been floating its wave energy system, which uses hydraulic pistons to drive a generator to generate electricity from the rise and fall of coastal waters, for more than 10 years. The company is now preparing to build its first megawatt installation.

We have been following the progress of Eco Wave Power’s journey to generate electricity by harnessing the movements of coastal waters since the first prototypes were tested in tanks in 2012.

The system has undergone a number of changes over the years, but the basics remain the same. Buoys attached to a seawall or other coastal infrastructure are raised and lowered by the action of waves, which move fluid into a land-based accumulator via hydraulic pistons. The compressed hydraulic fluid is then released and drives an electric generator to generate electricity.

Echo Wave Power

The installation can operate around the clock, but if conditions get too choppy, the buoys can be raised until the storm passes. Installation and maintenance should be relatively simple, and connection to power grids can be achieved without laying kilometres of undersea cabling.

Gibraltar became the first grid-connected Eco Wave Power installation in 2016, and operated for six years before its component parts were salvaged, reconditioned (or recycled) and sent to the Port of Los Angeles in the US for a demonstration project. Another installation, at the Port of Jaffa in Israel, was connected to the grid last year. The company has signed a number of contracts around the world in recent years, the largest being a 77 MW wave power station in Turkey.

However, the honours for the first megawatt-scale project to be built appear to go to the city of Porto in northern Portugal. Despite being announced in 2020, approval for construction to begin was only granted in March of this year. Now, Eco Wave Power founder and CEO Inna Bravermann and company engineers have met with key players for the “official start” of its first commercial-scale project.

Echo Wave Power

The site of the first 1-MW station will also house a “first-of-its-kind wave energy museum and education center” that will be open to the public in the area below the breakwater. The area will also house most of Eco Wave Power’s equipment. Construction is expected to begin in the next two years, followed by expansion at four locations up to a maximum capacity of 20 megawatts.

“We believe this will be the first wave energy project in the world to demonstrate significant energy production from the power of waves,” said Bravermann. “I truly believe this revolutionary project will position Eco Wave Power as a leading wave energy developer and serve as a significant milestone towards the global commercialization of our wave energy technology.”

Source: Eco Wave Power