Pilot wave energy installation begins operating at Port of Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Seven blue steel floats that look like small boats were lowered into a channel at the Port of Los Angeles and set to gently bob with passing swells as the nation’s first onshore wave-energy site began operating this week.

The pilot installation, built by Eco Wave Power and sited at AltaSea, a nonprofit ocean institute at the port, will generate a small amount of electricity for local use while the company tests its technology and operational procedures. Eco Wave Power says the system could be scaled along roughly 8 miles of breakwater at the port and, if expanded, might produce enough power to serve as many as 60,000 homes.

The floats are attached to an unused wharf on ground that once held oil tanks. As each unit rises and falls with wave motion, it pushes a cylinder that sends a biodegradable hydraulic fluid through pipes into storage tanks. Pressure built in the tanks turns a motor connected to a generator, producing electricity that feeds into a small on-site power station housed in a converted shipping container.

Inna Braverman, co-founder and CEO of Eco Wave Power, described the pilot as a proof of concept for wider deployment along the California coast and beyond. “We’re starting here in LA, but we hope, aspire and believe that we will be in the United States and in other locations around the world,” she said. Eco Wave Power has a two-year license to operate the pilot at the Port of Los Angeles.

Half of the pilot’s funding came from Shell, and company officials said a Shell-funded study helped identify dozens of potential U.S. sites where similar systems might be installed. The project required permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Los Angeles, approvals that Braverman said were obtained in about two years.

Wave energy is an emerging segment of marine renewables that remains largely in research, demonstration and pilot phases, but backers say it could provide reliable, low-carbon electricity that complements wind and solar. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates waves off U.S. coasts contain energy capable of meeting roughly one-third of the nation’s current electricity demand. Industry leaders note that wave-generated power can continue after wind or sunlight diminishes because ocean swells persist, offering possible grid-stabilizing benefits.

“Wave power is starting to turn from innovation projects to actual pilot projects that go toward industrialization and commercialization,” said Rémi Gruet, chief executive officer of the trade association Ocean Energy Europe. He said costs must fall — aided by policy support and subsidies similar to those that helped drive down costs for solar and wind — before the technology can reach large-scale competitiveness.

Wave energy technologies have been deployed commercially in a few places for more than a decade. The first commercial breakwater-based plant in Europe began operating at Mutriku harbor in Spain in 2011, and an offshore system was installed off Hawaii in 2016. California moved to promote the sector in 2023 when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to encourage wave energy development.

Experts see specific niches where marine energy may be particularly valuable, even if it is not yet cost-competitive with established renewables. Andrea Copping, a marine renewable energy specialist and faculty fellow at the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, said small projects that displace diesel generation in remote coastal communities or islands could be economically attractive and help establish an industry supply chain.

Local advocates say the deployment could bring environmental and public health benefits in port communities that have long struggled with pollution from shipping and fossil fuel infrastructure. AltaSea President and CEO Terry Tamminen said the ocean’s vast surface area makes wave energy a significant potential resource. “The world has waves, 70% percent of the world is covered by ocean,” he said. “And we can harness all of that clean energy now, thanks to things like Eco Wave.”

Eco Wave Power is pursuing projects internationally, including initiatives in Taiwan, India, Portugal and a grid-connected installation in Israel. In the United States, the company is looking for additional pilot locations, including in New Jersey, where state lawmakers are advancing legislation to encourage ocean energy development.

Regulators and industry officials say more deployments are needed to refine designs, lower costs and evaluate environmental effects. The Port of Los Angeles pilot covers a modest footprint and produces limited power, emphasizing demonstration over immediate grid impact. Proponents contend that successful, scaled deployments could add a round-the-clock renewable source that reduces reliance on fossil fuels at coastal energy and shipping hubs.

As the pilot begins commercial operation this week, backers framed the project as a milestone for marine renewable energy in the United States. “We consider every successful deployment an important milestone in creating this industry,” said Andrea Copping. Observers said continued monitoring of performance, environmental interactions and economics will determine whether wave energy grows beyond pilot phases to broader industrialization and commercialization.