The United States is about to start operating a wave power plant

The first wave-power plant to be put into operation in the United States opens up the prospect of providing clean energy to 50 percent of the US population living in coastal cities.

America develops technology to harness wave energy

Installed off the coast of Hawaii , at Kaneohe Bay, the 40-ton device is the first wave generator . According to the United States Department of Energy (DoE), a series of such generators will be installed next year, providing clean energy for US coastal cities. About 50% of the US population lives along the 80-km-long coastline, according to DoE, a potentially large project.

Azura Marine Wave Generator. (Photo: DoE)

The device, designed by NWEI, was named Azura, installed below 300m of water last month and has a capacity of 20kW. If installed deeper, in areas with larger waves, the capacity could be up to 1 MW, enough to supply hundreds of homes.

Azura is designed to absorb the wave energy of motion in all directions. This is the key to the success of the project.

"Waves have both horizontal motion and vertical motion up and down, most other designs can only absorb the energy of one direction of motion," DoE said. " Azura can harness the power of 360-degree motion, delivering superior output power."

The research team intends to install a megawatt capacity system by 2017, while continuing to test Azura with the assistance of the US Navy. Meanwhile, a similar device was installed off the coast of Western Australia and put into operation, joining the local grid in February 2015.

According to the World Ocean Review, total global ocean power is about 11,400 TWh per year, and it can transfer 1,700 TWh of electricity to meet about 10% of the world's electricity needs.