Eco Wave to supply electricity generated from waves

Israel’s Eco Wave Power, which has developed technology to harness clean energy from the motion of waves, has inked a first agreement with the Israeli National Electric Company to connect its wave-energy power plant and sell electricity to Israel’s power grid.

Eco Wave said it entered into a power purchase agreement with the IEC for the supply of electricity generated from ocean and sea waves. Once connected to the company’s wave-powered energy station located in Tel Aviv’s Jaffa port, it will mark the first time that wave-powered energy will be transmitted to the national grid to provide electricity to Israeli households. Wave energy alone can produce twice the amount of electricity that the world produces now, according to Eco Wave.

The wave energy project, also known as EWP-EDF One Project, is conducted in partnership with and co-funding from EDF (Electricite De France) Renewables in Israel and Israel’s Energy Ministry. The ministry has previously recognized Eco Wave’s technology as a “pioneering technology.”

Founded in Tel Aviv in 2011 by Inna Braverman at the age of 24, Eco Wave has developed an onshore mechanism using floaters that are attached to existing man-made marine structures such as piers, breakwaters and jetties to draw energy from incoming waves by converting the rising and falling motion of the waves into green electricity. As such, the technology is more cost-efficient compared with offshore solutions as it doesn’t require the use of ships, divers, underwater cabling and mooring for connection to the system.

Following the power purchase agreement, the IEC will perform a grid synchronization test before officially connecting the EWP-EDF One wave energy project to Israel’s energy grid, Eco Wave said in a statement.

The agreement comes after Eco Wave in July announced that it had conducted successful test runs on the EWP-EDF project for the operation of the mechanical and hydraulic subsystems of the wave-powered energy power plant, including lowering the floaters into the water for the first time.

Eco Wave has been operating an off-grid pilot power station at the Jaffa Port since 2014 for the testing of system components and floater designs and the production of clean wave energy-generated electricity. Back in 2018, Eco Wave was awarded a grant by the National Infrastructures, Energy, and Water Resources Ministry for the expansion of the pilot station to 100KW.

Eco Wave said it seeks to build wave energy power stations to provide people with access to electricity in proximity to their housing without creating air pollution. Founding Eco Wave was borne out of Braverman’s personal story. Born in Ukraine two weeks after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded, Braverman suffered a respiratory arrest from the polluted air.

About 99% of the global population breathes air that exceeds air quality limits, and endangers their health, according to the World Health Organization. The organization has emphasized the need of cutting fossil fuel use and taking other steps to reduce air pollution levels such as investing in energy-efficient housing and power generation.

Separately, Eco Wave announced that it will begin with the installation of its wave energy technology at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, its first US site, which is “believed to be the first-ever onshore wave energy station,” in the US. The company said it holds concession agreements for commercial installations in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and other locations, adding to its growing 404.7 MW project pipeline.

Several companies are working on harnessing the sea for clean energy. Among them are BaroMar, which developed an underwater solution for storing wind and solar power; and Nayam Wings, which created a new wind propulsion system for maritime vessels based on a rigid wing sail.