Harnessing the Ocean's Energy: Wave Power as a Path to Coastal Energy Independence
- Jane Marsh
- Mar 6
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 6
Jane Marsh
You don’t need a mighty ocean swell to hit you in the face to know wave power could be one of the most important renewable energy fixtures in the future.
Ocean conservationists and utility experts are finding ways to harness this monumental asset to benefit humanity and the planet. What does that look like, and how could it impact your relationships with utilities in the future?
What Are the Different Types of Water-Based Power?
You might be picturing waterwheels or dams, but they only paint some of the picture. The blue economy — or how you can interact sustainably and beneficially with the Earth’s waters — is growing yearly. It’s because of these innovative water power sources.
Wave Energy
Whether you’re a surfer or sipping a drink on a beautiful beach, you see the waves rock in and out of the shore. Even the smallest ones seem to crash with fierceness. Professionals can leverage that force and transform it into electricity, with no fossil fuels necessary.
These can be closer to shorelines or out in the open sea thousands of miles from the nearest town, grounded in place and connected to facilities with massive underwater cables. These are the types of mechanisms that make wave infrastructure possible:
Absorbers: Converts electrical energy with buoys and rotary technology
Attenuators: Flexing segments running parallel with waves, using the rotational motion to power hydraulic pumps
Oscillation water columns: Rises and falls with the waters, decompressing and compressing air to spin a turbine
Overtopping pendulums: Pumps energy in a reservoir
Inverted pendulums: Uses a buoy and hinged arm to generate electricity as it attempts to maintain stability
Current Energy
A turbulent current in any water may appear majestic in a photograph, but it is dangerously intense — look, but don’t touch. Because these flows move at dependably high velocities in the same paths, experts can use maps of them to harness some power.
They can also be used in areas with less ferocious currents, such as island communities that want to add more generators into their electricity mix. The technology is relatively accessible because currents only move in one direction, making the turbines easy to assemble.
Tidal Energy
Most people are curious about wind power’s longevity because a gust isn’t always blowing. The ocean’s tides are pushing and pulling under the guidance of the moon every day, so why not use that consistent motion to harness some electricity?
Tidal is most commonly used in hydroelectric dams. They capture the water the tides bring and use it to power various turbines. Tidal streams, lagoons, and barrages comprise most tidal infrastructure.
What Is Wave Power’s Purpose in Renewable Energy?
People already have rooftop panels and giant wind farms. What impact would adding wave resources have on independence?
Increasing the Energy Mix
Climate resilience means the planet has enough clean power sources to withstand natural disasters and emergencies. Boosting this reinforces energy independence worldwide.
Additionally, there is enough infrastructure to fulfill everyone’s needs, even if some aren’t working. This is called having a diverse mix.
Many places are leaning heavily into one generator, like solar or offshore wind. However, adding wave power to the list only makes nations better protected against the worsening climate crisis.
Maximizing Existing Resources
Wave power takes advantage of existing energy. Even the cleanest sources — like solar — still require people to mine for metals and produce greenhouse gases to create panels. The ocean is a wealth of untapped resources.
While wave energy still requires emissions to make mechanisms and turbines, the real estate is vast. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calculated all the way back in 2011 that humans could produce enough electricity from the untapped ocean to power Europe 10 times over.
Financial Delegation
You may have heard of geothermal or solar tax credits that make installing systems in your home cheaper. Many financial responsibilities fall to the homeowner to expand renewables.
While some commercial entities are doing their part, expanding wave energy would require a more collaborative government effort. The Department of Energy put $25 million toward research in 2022, which should eventually lead to installations.
Embracing Technological Innovation
Wave power is still a lesser-known electricity source. Expanding people’s knowledge of it could inspire experts to work harder to improve it. Optimizing how much these machines can capture is crucial, and there’s still so much left to be discovered.
Increasing Awareness of the Outcomes
Power upgrades on a personal and national level have a butterfly effect throughout society. More people need to learn how they yield cost savings, improve access to efficient sources, and streamline municipal services. Often, one community studies the impacts of another experience, informing infrastructure upgrades for countless citizens nearby.
How Are Wave Experts Innovating?
As ideal as wave energy seems, there are still knowledge gaps and challenges professionals need to overcome. What can you expect the future of wave power to look like if humans beat the obstacles?
Modular Concepts
Expanding wave power is expensive and one of its biggest hurdles. Reducing costs could happen if the technology was manufactured at a cheaper price. It would also need to be more compact.
This is where modular equipment comes in, which could make wave power more scalable. Even the data-collection systems are modular, making it easier to stress-test the parts at sea.
Social Equity
Israel deployed its first wave project in Jaffa Port in November 2024. It was thanks to the collaboration of many startups and energy’s greatest minds. However, the initiative innovated in a way more experts need to pay attention to.
Environmental advocacy equates to social justice, and this is a part of wave energy development, too. The project — called Eco Wave Power — was led by a graduate from the Women for Climate program. Empowering people of all demographics is a massive step forward in this field.
Wave Energy Converters
The European Innovation Council saw enough potential in this that it gave €17.5 million to a wave tech company. The organization is promising to develop a new type of converter better suited for extreme conditions without compromising performance. It’s called a pretension cylinder, and it could be cheaper than other converters on the market.
Desalination
Constant exposure to dense saltwater is hard on machinery. Professionals are always working to find new ways to reinforce technologies, whether through different material compositions or defensive coatings.
Adding desalination technology into the mix may solve two problems. First — it would make machinery more efficient. Second — it could alleviate scarcity by making more water accessible to people. A new project is trying to make desalinated potable water through its technologies as cheap as 50 cents per cubic meter.
The Way of Water
Wave power can only rise to its potential if you talk about it and more people discover how valuable it is. Education and advocacy are the best ways to decarbonize the planet, and spreading the word about these resources is critical for making the environment resilient and healthy again.
If nations invested in this reliable and sustainable electricity source, every coastline and attached community could benefit from these amazing water bodies.
Citations
Maksumic, Zerina. (2025). New partnership to drive wave power and desalination expansion in US. Offshore-Energy.biz. Retrieved February 18, 2025, from https://www.offshore-energy.biz/new-partnership-to-drive-wave-power-and-desalination-expansion-in-us/
Maksumic, Zerina. (2025). EIC Accelerator backs CorPower Ocean with up to €17.5M to advance wave energy tech. Offshore-Energy.biz. Retrieved February 18, 2025, from https://www.offshore-energy.biz/eic-accelerator-backs-corpower-ocean-with-up-to-e17-5m-to-advance-wave-energy-tech/
McDermott-Murphy, Caitlin. (2023). Wave Energy Gets Ready for a Big First. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2023/wave-energy-gets-ready-for-a-big-first.html
Open Energy Information. (2025). Wave Energy. Open Energy Information. https://openei.org/wiki/Wave_Energy
SitelogIQ. (2022). Planning for Municipal Energy Infrastructure Upgrades. SitelogIQ. https://www.sitelogiq.com/blog/planning-municipal-energy-infrastructure-upgrades/
U.S. Department of Energy. (2025). DOE Announces $25 Million for Cutting-Edge Wave Energy Research. Energy.gov. https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-25-million-cutting-edge-wave-energy-research
Whitlock, Robin. (2024). Eco Wave Power debuts Israel’s first wave energy project at Jaffa Port. Renewable Energy Magazine. https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/ocean_energy/eco-wave-power-debuts-israel-s-first-20241127
World Ocean Initiative. (2023). Wave energy: ‘flexible’ energy mix needed for renewable future. Economist Impact. https://impact.economist.com/ocean/sustainable-ocean-economy/wave-energy-flexible-energy-mix-needed-for-renewable-future