Wave Power

Wave power is the capture of energy from wind-generated ocean waves to do useful work such as electricity generation, desalination or pumping water, with a machine that exploits it called a wave energy converter. Waves are generated primarily by wind passing over the sea's surface, and as long as the waves move slower than the wind above them, energy continues transferring from wind to wave. As of 2023, wave power is not widely used commercially despite a long series of trial projects dating back to at least 1890, including the Islay LIMPET, installed off Scotland in 2000 as the world's first commercial wave power device connected to a national grid, and the Aguçadoura Wave Farm in Portugal, opened in 2008 as the first experimental multi-generator wave farm; both projects have since ended. Wave energy converters are generally classified as oscillating water columns, oscillating bodies, or overtopping devices.