Eco Wave Power’s WEC unit arrives at Port of LA

Eco Wave Power entered a collaboration agreement with AltaSea in early 2022 and announced plans to relocate the energy conversion unit from Gibraltar to AltaSea’s 35-acre campus located at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest seaport. With the energy conversion unit’s arrival, Eco Wave Power has reached a key milestone in its commitment to bringing the company’s innovative wave energy technology to the US, offering a new source of renewable energy for the nation.

The US has been focused on bringing new renewable energy sources online and doubled down on that focus with the recent enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which included a US$369 billion investment in climate and energy programmes. US President, Joe Biden, called the investment a “huge step forward” towards meeting the country’s ambitious climate goals and improving the country’s energy security.

“This year, we set out to expand our global presence, especially in the US as it presents an incredible opportunity for growth,” said Inna Braverman, Founder and CEO of Eco Wave Power. “This is just the start in the US. Moving the station from Gibraltar to Los Angeles in just a few months shows yet another strength of our technology: we are one of the only portable renewable energy technologies that can be easily transported, from country to country, to fit the energy needs of any country.”

The US, with over 95 000 miles of coastline and over 128 million Americans living in coastal counties, is an ideal and strategic place to employ blue renewable energy technologies that could position the country to become a world leader for renewable energy from ocean and sea waves. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wave energy off the nation’s coasts could generate the equivalent of approximately 66% of all the electricity generated across the country in 2020.

AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles is a sprawling 35-acre nonprofit centre devoted to accelerating scientific collaboration and advancing the emerging blue economy through innovation and job creation. AltaSea is the nation’s largest blue economy research and development centre, focused on creating well-paying jobs, finding solutions to climate change, and working to solve some of the most pressing issues in the ocean environment. AltaSea currently is home to many tenants, including premier US colleges such as the University of Southern California and UCLA, and innovative tech start-ups, like Blue Robotics, Inc. and RCAM Technologies, Inc.

“We believe that Eco Wave Power aligns well with the AltaSea vision, creating a new way of generating renewable energy, that will help California meet its ambitious goals to address the climate crisis. We are looking forward to welcoming this innovative pilot,” said Terry Tamminen, AltaSea CEO and former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA).

Eco Wave Power and AltaSea are expected to host an official ‘unboxing’ event in January 2023 to celebrate the technology’s arrival in the US.

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