Eco Wave Power switches on first US wave energy pilot at LA Port

September 9, 2025, by Zerina Maksumić

Wave energy developer Eco Wave Power has inaugurated the first U.S. onshore wave energy pilot station at the Port of Los Angeles, marking the operational debut of its technology in the country.

Source: Eco Wave Power (shot by Eugene Garcia)

According to Eco Wave Power, seven blue steel floats, installed at AltaSea’s ocean institute on a section of breakwater once used for oil storage, are now generating clean electricity by converting wave motion through land-based conversion units. The floats were manufactured locally, with companies including All-Ways Metal and C&S Welding involved in preparations.

The pilot is backed by Shell’s Marine Renewable Program and partly funded by the oil and gas giant. Eco Wave Power co-founder and CEO Inna Braverman and VP of Engineering Ran Atias coordinated with AltaSea’s CEO Terry Tamminen on project planning and installation.

The small-scale installation delivers only limited electricity locally but is designed to demonstrate technical viability. According to Eco Wave Power, expansion along the port’s 8 miles of breakwater could generate enough power for up to 60,000 homes.

“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,” Bravermann said.

Braverman noted the project has the potential to be a “game changer in terms of clean energy production” for the port and surrounding communities, which have long faced air quality issues from shipping.

“It’s the first U.S. project on breakwater, so it opens up the possibility to do that on multiple other ports in the U.S. It’s a moment where wave power is starting to turn from innovation projects to actual pilot projects that go toward industrialization and commercialization,” said Rémi Gruet, CEO of Ocean Energy Europe.

Eco Wave Power holds a two-year license to operate the Los Angeles pilot.

The technology uses floaters attached to existing marine infrastructure. Each floater pushes a cylinder that sends biodegradable hydraulic fluid through a system of pipes into storage tanks. Pressure builds and drives a motor and generator, producing electricity.

“The world has waves, 70% percent of the world is covered by ocean,” Terry Tamminen, President and CEO of AltaSea and former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, said.

“And we can harness all of that clean energy now, thanks to things like Eco Wave.”

Eco Wave Power said that a Shell-funded study identified dozens of additional U.S. sites suitable for this approach. The company is also pursuing projects in New Jersey, Taiwan, India, and Portugal.

At the end of August, the company completed operational testing and lowered its floaters into the water at its U.S. pilot station at the Port of Los Angeles.

Operational testing completed at Los Angeles wave energy pilot

Business Developments & Projects

Eco Wave Power’s onshore system attaches floaters to existing marine structures. The vertical motion of waves drives hydraulic cylinders, sending fluid to a land-based conversion unit that generates electricity.

In April, Eco Wave Power signed a manufacturing agreement with All-Ways Metal to produce floaters for its first U.S. wave energy installation at the Port of Los Angeles. The agreement followed key regulatory clearances, including a final license from the Port of Los Angeles granted earlier this month and a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers secured in November 2024.

Other projects in development include an MW-scale initiative in Portugal and pilot efforts in Taiwan and India, in collaboration with local I-Ke and Bharat Petroleum.