This article contains a list of proposed and prototype wave power devices, also called wave energy converters (WEC). Most of these are designed to work offshore or nearshore, although some concepts are mounted on the coast or in breakwaters.

A large number of concepts have been developed to various stages, with a 2013 review evaluating 172 different devices. Some of these have only been tested at small scale for short periods. Many of these technologies are no longer actively being developed. The projects with a section heading were reviewed and updated in mid-2024.

The projects in this list have been grouped into three categories: Actively being developed Not actively being developed, with no updates for a few years Defunct technologies or companies

Actively being developed

Azura wave power device tested in Hawaii

Azura Wave Power is based in New Plymouth, and has been developing wave energy since 2006. The TRL5/6 Azura wave power device was tested at the US Navy Wave Energy Test Site Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The 45-ton wave energy converter was located offshore, in a water depth of . It provided 20 kW of electrical power to the local grid for 18 months from September 2016.Graham, Karen." First wave-produced power in U.S. goes online in Hawaii" Digital Journal. September 19, 2016. Web Accessed September 22, 2016. This concept was found to be too expensive, so Azura are now working on a smaller-scale device to produce both electricity and potable water.

Anaconda Wave Energy Converter Developed by Checkmate SeaEnergy, based in Sheerness, the surface-following attenuator device is a long rubber tube which is tethered underwater. Passing waves will instigate a wave inside the tube, which will then propagates down its walls, driving a turbine at the far end. The full-scale device is expected to be around long and in diameter.

The Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton were involved in developing the device, including tank testing a 1:30 scale model at the DHI basin. Checkmate SeaEnergy received funding between 2015 and 2017 from the Wave Energy Scotland Novel Wave Energy Converter programme stages 1 and 2 to further develop their concept. The company announced in January 2024 they plan to test a 1:12 scale model. In October 2025, Checkmate was awarded a £750,000 grant from Innovate UK to further develop the Lobe-Tendon Anaconda wave energy converter. The project, called from the Welsh for sea snake, includes Swansea University, CGEN Engineering, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and Wave Venture. Over18 months they plan to conduct numerical modelling, tank trials, materials testing and construct a 1:4-scale prototype section.

CalWave

CalWave Power Technologies, Inc. based in California, is developing a submerged pressure differential wave energy device, which can operate at various water depths and distance from shore. The company tested a 1:20 scale prototype in 2016.

In September 2021, CalWave commissioned its pilot x1 device off the coast of San Diego. The testing was planned to last 6 months, but was extended to 10 months. CalWave expect to test a 100 kW x100 device at PacWave off the coast of Oregon.

In March 2024, CalWave was selected to be the technology used in an indigenous-led project in Yuquot, British Columbia. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations project has funding from the TD Bank Group, and aims to be a first-of-the-kind project for coastal community micro-grids powered by wave energy.

CETO

CETO is a submerged point-absorber buoy tethered to the seabed, developed by the Australian company Carnegie Clean Energy Ltd.

In 2008, a CETO5 was tested off Fremantle, Western Australia. This device consists of a single piston pump attached to the sea floor with a float (buoy) tethered to the piston. Waves cause the float to rise and fall, generating pressurized water, which is piped to an onshore facility to drive hydraulic generators or run reverse osmosis water desalination.

Irish subsidiary, CETO Wave Energy Ireland, is further developing the CETO technology in the EuropeWave project. In April 2024, they secured a berth at BiMEP in northern Spain to test there in 2025.

Crestwing Danish company Crestwing ApS is developing a hinged-raft surface-following attenuator WEC. The device consists of two floats connected by a hinge and uses the atmospheric pressure acting on its large surface to stick to the ocean. This allows it to follow the waves, using the motion of the two floats to convert both kinetic and potential energy to electricity by a mechanical power take-off system.

In 2014, a 1:5 scale model was tested in the sea near Frederikshavn. In 2017 the successor, a full-scale prototype was ready to be tested. It was claimed the device will break the waves and draw the power from it in such a way, it gives it an extra function as a coastal protection device in exposed coastal areas.

In 2023, Cresting partnered with Aalborg University (AAU), Shipcon, and Logimatic Engineering to further develop the technology, including further tank testing at the AAU Wind and Wave laboratory in Esbjerg.

HiWave-5

HiWave-5 is an array demonstration project by Swedish developer CorPower Ocean, to deploy, demonstrate and certify an array of point-absorber WECs at the Aguçadoura test site in Portugal. The project is being conducted in phases, (1) a single C4 full-scale device, and (2) an array with three additional C5 devices. The timescales for these were initially 2019 to 2022, and 2022 to 2024 respectively, however this appears to have slipped somewhat. A 300 kW rated power C4 was deployed at sea in September 2023.

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Wave Energy Program The Wave Energy Group at Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras, funded by the Department of Ocean Development, Government of India built, operated, instrumented, and tested a 150 kW oscillating water column (OWC). This was a nearshore bottom-standing caisson built in 1991, with different turbines tested over a period of multiple decades.Raju, V.S., Ravindran. M., Koola, P.M., (1991) "Energy from Sea Waves - The Indian Wave Energy Programme". Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on wave energy utilisation. January 1991, Tokyo, Japan. It was located in Vizhinjam, Kerala, and provided power to the grid, however it was eventually decommissioned. Since the wave power in the equatorial region where this device was tested was low about 13 kW/m, the choice was for a multi-functional breakwater unit that could provide a safe harbor for fishing vessels and produce power more economically by sharing the costs of the structure. Electric power pumped to the grid was demonstrated.Raju, V.S., Ravindran, M., Koola, P.M. (1993) "Experiences on a 150 kw Wave Energy Pilot Plant". Proceedings of the 1993 European Wave Energy Symposium. 21–24 July 1993, Edinburgh, U.K. The group has also researched directly producing desalinated water and thermal storage using refrigeration. These technologies alleviate the need for an electric grid and demonstrate alternate power generation appropriate for the location.Koola, P.M., Ravindran, M., Raju, V.S. (1993) "Design options for a multipurpose breakwater". Proceedings of international symposium on ocean energy development. 26–27 August 1993, Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan.

In November 2022, a team from IIT Madras demonstrated the Sindhuja-I ocean wave energy converter about off the coast of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. Located in a water depth of , it produces only 100 watts of power, but the researchers hope to scale this up to a megawatt.

Lysekil Project

The Lysekil Project is an ongoing wave energy research project by the Centre for Renewable Electric Energy Conversion at Uppsala University in Sweden. It is located to the south of Lysekil, on the west coast approximately 100 km (62 mi) north of Gothenburg. The first WEC was deployed in 2006, and as of February 2024 there were 11 WECs located on the site, with a total capacity of 260 kW.

The WECs are point-absorber buoys, with a direct-drive linear generator placed on the seabed, connected to a buoy at the surface via a line. The movements of the buoy drive the translator in the generator.

Ocean Grazer WEC

The Ocean Grazer concept has been developed by the University of Groningen in The Netherlands since 2014, and now by a spin-out company Ocean Grazer BV. Wave energy is captured with multiple hydraulic pistons linked to floating buoys. Other sources of energy capture could also be used. These convert the motion of the sea into hydraulic head, which in turn drives a hydroelectric turbine.

, Ocean Grazer appear to be focusing on their "Ocean Battery" undersea pumped-storage hydropower concept, working with consultant engineers Stantec.

Ocean Power Technologies PowerBuoy

The PowerBuoy is a point absorber WEC developed by US-based firm Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) since 1997. The rise and fall of the waves moves a rack and pinion within the buoy and spins a generator. The electricity is transmitted by a submerged transmission line. The buoys are designed to be installed one to offshore in water deep. In September 2024, OPT completed over four months of offshore testing in New Jersey.

OE Buoy

The OE Buoy is a floating oscillating water column WEC with an air turbine, developed by Ocean Energy Ltd. in Cork, Ireland since 2002. A 1/4 scale device was tested at the Ocean Energy Test Site in Galway Bay between December 2006 and September 2009. A full-scale OE35 buoy is to be tested at the US Navy's Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, albeit delayed since the original 2019 plans. It is also proposed to test a further OE35 at EMEC in 2025.

Panthalassa Ocean-2

Panthalassa, based in Portland, Oregon, is developing a deep water wave energy concept called the Ocean-2. The device has a spherical top section about 30 feet (10 m) in diameter mounted on top of a roughly long tubular hull. As it moves in the waves, water is forced up to the top and drains back through a turbine. The company plan to deploy multiple of these "nodes" in the open ocean, possibly generating hydrogen. A test of the device in the Puget Sound in 2025 resulted in it generating up to 50 kW in decent wave conditions. The Ocean-2 was previously tested in 2024 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the smaller Ocean-1 device in the same location in 2021.

Seaturns French company Seaturns is developing a concept to harness wave power using a water pendulum. Waves cause air to flow between two chambers via a turbine. The company tested a 1:4 sale prototype at the IFREMER test site in Brest for 18 months between 2023 and 2025. They raised €2.45m in crowdfunding towards a full-scale demonstrator. This will be tested in the Gironde estuary near Bordeaux, where the company is based.

WavePiston

WavePiston is a concept to harness wave power using a long string with collector plates that move with the waves. Hydraulic pumps between the plates pump seawater onshore, where it can either drive a turbine to create electricity or be used in desalination. The first full-scale device was installed off the coast of Gran Canaria in 2024.

WaveRoller

Developed by Finnish company AW-Energy, the device is submerged hinged flap, or oscillating wave surge converter (OWSC). The back and forth movement of surging nearshore waves moves the plate. The kinetic energy transferred to this plate is collected by a piston pump. A half-scale demonstration device was tested off the coast of Peniche, Portugal in 2012, with a full-scale device tested at the same location between 2019 and 2021.

Zoex Power