Australian wave energy prototype wraps up demonstration campaign

‘Kwilyilah’, the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Moored MultiModal Multibody (M4) wave energy converter (WEC), has completed its deployment campaign in King George Sound, Albany.

UWA Oceans Institute lifted the wave energy prototype out of the Albany Marina on May 1, 2025, after the six-month campaign.

To remind, the deployment campaign started on November 8, 2024, putting into operation the 22-meter, 42-tonne M4 device designed to capture wave-generated energy while providing data on its efficiency and potential as a sustainable energy source.

Following more than 130 days of operation and 300h of power generation, UWA Oceans Institute collected more than 3 TB of data that will be analyzed over the next few months.

M4 wave energy converter lifted out of water in King George Sound

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The project, run by UWA’s Marine Energy Research Australia and funded by the Blue Economy CRC and the Western Australian State Government, is part of ongoing research into the Great Southern’s potential as a wave energy hub. 

The M4 wave energy device, featuring a triangular forward frame, a trailing arm, and a power generator on the connecting hinge, is built from structural steel beams and four steel floater buoys for buoyancy and ballast.

The device has been give name ‘Kwilyilah‘, meaning “dolphin,” in collaboration with the Albany Heritage Reference Group to recognize Noongar cultural heritage and reflect its leaping motion above water and the symbolic connection between dolphins and coastal communities.