Wave Swell
Wave Swell Energy is an Australian pre-commercial developer of patented unidirectional Oscillating Water Column (UniWave) wave energy technology, selling project-based deployments of its 200kW UniWave200 converter to island utilities, coastal infrastructure operators, and government energy agencies in Australia, Spain, Taiwan, and the U.S.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Wave Swell does
Wave Swell Energy Ltd (WSE) is an unlisted Australian public company headquartered in Melbourne that develops proprietary wave energy conversion technology under the UniWave brand. Its core product is the UniWave200, a 200kW device based on an internationally patented unidirectional Oscillating Water Column (OWC) architecture in which wave-driven water column motion pressurises air through a unidirectional turbine located above the waterline — there are no moving parts in the water, no oils or contaminants, and the unit is re-floatable and relocatable. The same architecture supports a Coastal Structure Integration (CSI) application in which units deployed side by side act as a breakwater or seawall while generating electricity, transforming a coastal protection sunk cost into an annuity revenue stream.
The company's commercial model is project-based enterprise sales. Its only operational deployment to date is the 200kW UniWave200 installed at King Island, Tasmania in January 2021, which has been exporting electricity into the Hydro Tasmania-managed island grid since June 2021 and was confirmed successfully completed by ARENA in October 2024. WSE sells hardware, project development and commissioning services to island utilities, coastal infrastructure operators, and government-backed energy agencies; future revenue streams under exploration include electricity export, technology licensing of the patented unidirectional OWC, and managed services for a wave-powered modular data centre integration concept targeting AI compute workloads. International expansion is being pursued through partnerships in Spain (BiMEP/Mutriku, deployment targeted H2 2027), Taiwan (NTOU MOU), and the United States (U.S. DOE study participation), with formal validation support from ARENA, the U.S. DOE National Laboratory of the Rockies, and Oregon State University testing.
The company is small (1-10 employees), pre-commercial in terms of disclosed revenue, and primarily funded to date by an approximately A$4 million ARENA grant awarded in 2019. Its GTM motion is advisory-led and partnership-driven rather than direct sales-led, leveraging a global advisory board and government relationships to access island grid operators, coastal structure owners, and emerging AI infrastructure customers.
Wave Swell firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wave Swell
- Legal name
- Wave Swell Energy Ltd
- Website
- https://waveswell.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Wave Swell Energy is an Australian pre-commercial developer of patented unidirectional Oscillating Water Column (UniWave) wave energy technology, selling project-based deployments of its 200kW UniWave200 converter to island utilities, coastal infrastructure operators, and government energy agencies in Australia, Spain, Taiwan, and the U.S.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wave Swell industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Wave Energy Hardware / Marine Renewable Energy
- NAICS
- Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (2211)
- SIC
- Electric Services (4911), Cogeneration Services & Small Power Producers (4991)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Power Generation (EUACAJAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Marine & Hydrokinetic R&D (Tidal, Wave, River Current, OTEC) (EUAMAOAD), Desalination Energy Systems (Energy Recovery Devices, Power Integration, Renewables) (EUANAFAI)
Keywords
Where Wave Swell is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Melbourne
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Wave Swell business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Wave Energy Hardware Sales and Project Deployment: WSE deploys its UniWave wave energy converter units at client sites (island grids, coastal structures, remote locations) generating revenue from the sale of the hardware system and associated project development, installation, and commissioning services. Projects to date include the 200kW UniWave200 at King Island, Australia (ARENA-funded) and a deployment at Spain's Mutriku breakwater-integrated plant via BiMEP contract.
- Electricity Generation and Export: WSE generates and exports electricity from its deployed wave energy units into local or national grids. At King Island, the UniWave200 exported first power on June 18, 2021, into the island's hybrid grid managed by Hydro Tasmania, complementing existing renewables and reducing diesel consumption.
- Technology Licensing: WSE's international patent on unidirectional OWC technology enables potential licensing of the technology to third parties for deployment in various geographies and applications. The company is progressing deployment opportunities in the U.S., Taiwan, and Europe through partnerships and licensing arrangements with local operators.
- Integrated Data Centre Services: WSE is exploring integration of modular data centre infrastructure into its wave energy platform, operating as a self-powered microgrid. This would create a new revenue stream from power consumed internally to run AI and compute workloads rather than exported to shore, positioning WSE in the rapidly growing AI data centre infrastructure market.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Project-specific custom pricing — no public price list available |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Wave Swell product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wave Swell Energy designs, builds and deploys the UniWave200 — a 200kW wave energy converter based on patented unidirectional Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology — that converts ocean wave energy into clean electricity. The company sells and commissions these units on a project basis to utilities, island grid operators, coastal infrastructure owners and government-backed energy agencies, with additional revenue potential from licensing the patented OWC architecture internationally.
Product overview
Wave Swell Energy (WSE) offers a unified core technology platform — the UniWave (UniWave200) — based on a proprietary unidirectional oscillating water column (OWC) that converts ocean wave energy into clean electricity. The company operates a single integrated product line: the UniWave200 200kW wave energy converter, which serves multiple applications including remote island power generation (displacing diesel), coastal protection (acting as breakwater while generating), and emerging concepts like wave-powered data centres. The King Island Project demonstrated the technology (2021), with European deployment at Mutriku targeted for 2027. Project Bluefire is the planned technology enhancement program. Additional applications span desalination and hydrogen production.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- UniWave: Proprietary unidirectional oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy conversion technology that converts wave energy into electrical energy without moving parts in the water.
- UniWave200
Products and services
- UniWave200 Wave Energy Converter 200kW wave energy converter hardware based on patented unidirectional OWC technology that converts ocean wave energy into electrical energy using a bespoke air turbine power take-off system; all moving parts above the water line, no oil or contaminants, re-floatable. Sold to utilities, island grid operators, coastal infrastructure owners and government-backed energy agencies on a per-project basis.
- UniWave200 King Island Deployment Project Full-scale deployment of the UniWave200 at King Island, Tasmania, delivering wave-generated electricity into the Hydro Tasmania island grid to displace diesel consumption and validate wave-to-pneumatic, pneumatic-to-mechanical, and mechanical-to-grid conversion processes in a real ocean environment.
- Mutriku Breakwater-Integrated Power Take-Off Deployment Contracted installation and operation of WSE's patented PTO system at the world's longest-operating breakwater-integrated wave energy plant in Mutriku, Spain, validating the coastal structure integration approach and serving as the European reference deployment.
Quantifiable outcome
- Units placed side by side with no gaps can block up to 100% of wave action from a coastline while converting that wave energy into electricity.
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Wave Swell
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Wave Swell technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Wave Swell partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- BiMEP, S.A.coreWSE signed a contract with BiMEP, S.A., the owner and operator of the Mutriku wave energy plant in Spain's Basque Country, to install and operate its patented power take-off (PTO) technology at the world's longest-operating breakwater-integrated wave energy facility. This is WSE's first entry into the European market and the first time its PTO will operate inside a working breakwater. Deployment is targeted for H2 2027. The Mutriku plant has 15 years of uninterrupted operation and hosts the most relevant OWC turbine testing developments in recent years.
- Oregon State UniversitycoreSupported by a U.S. DOE TEAMER award, WSE completed its first large-scale coastal structure integration (CSI) model testing at Oregon State University in April 2026. Results compared favourably to the King Island open-ocean data, validating that the technology's performance holds up when integrated into a breakwater structure. Oregon State University is a leading institution in marine renewable energy testing.
- United States Department of Energy — National Laboratory of the RockiescoreWSE was one of three wave energy developers selected to contribute analysis to a U.S. DOE National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) major study on Coastal Structure-Integrated Wave Energy Converters (CSI-WECs). The report validated CSI as a low-risk, high-reward pathway at high technology readiness with 5-to-6 year payback in high-value applications. WSE was also selected to assess high-potential U.S. sites including Puerto Rico, Hawaii, the Pribilof Islands, and Humboldt Bay. This recognition positions WSE as a globally credible and commercially ready CSI-WEC solution provider.
- National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU)coreWSE and NTOU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the deployment of a wave energy converter at NTOU's facility in Keelung, Taiwan. The parties will collaborate on site selection, establish a consortium of partners for development and funding, and develop a local supply chain for all wave energy converter components. President Hsu Tai-wen of NTOU emphasised that the collaboration combines industrial capabilities with monitoring and verification undertaken by NTOU to demonstrate Taiwan's marine renewable energy strategy.
- Hydro TasmaniacoreWSE worked with Hydro Tasmania (the island's energy and network provider) to connect the UniWave200 unit to the local King Island grid. Hydro Tasmania monitored the energy produced by the unit, ensuring it met the requirements of the King Island grid. Hydro Tasmania is a world leader in the integration of renewables into island grids, providing unparalleled relevant expertise for demonstrating the technology's value to remote island grids.
- Australian Maritime College (AMC), University of TasmaniacoreAMC conducted physical scale model testing of the UniWave200 technology at its test tank facilities in Launceston, Tasmania. The testing provided a detailed matrix of pneumatic power production across a range of model scale wave height and period combinations. The King Island full-scale results are compared against AMC model test results to validate the technology's power conversion performance in a real ocean environment.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Wave Swell competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Carnegie Clean Energy: Australian developer of the CETO wave energy converter technology. Carnegie is WSE's closest geographical and technological peer — both are Australian pre-commercial wave energy developers pursuing commercialisation of point-absorber vs. OWC architectures.
- Ocean Power Technologies: U.S.-listed (NASDAQ: OPTT) wave energy developer of the PB3 PowerBuoy, targeting remote offshore power, defence, and offshore wind applications. Direct peer as a publicly visible wave energy hardware company serving similar utility, defence, and offshore infrastructure customers.
- Eco Wave Power: Israel-based wave energy company listed on NASDAQ (WAVE) developing onshore / coastal-structure-integrated wave energy technology. Direct peer in targeting breakwater-integrated and coastal-structure applications for utility-scale wave energy.
- CorPower Ocean: Swedish developer of a point-absorber wave energy converter with a focus on utility-scale ocean deployments. Direct peer pursuing commercial-scale wave energy with a patented WEC architecture and ocean-going demonstration plans.
- AW-Energy: Finnish developer of the WaveRoller, a seabed-mounted oscillating wave surge converter. Direct peer in non-floating, near-shore wave energy with utility and coastal-infrastructure applications.
- Bombora Wave Power: UK/Australia-based developer of the mWave submerged oscillating water column WEC. Direct peer operating in overlapping geographies (UK, Australia) with an OWC-based technology approach targeting utility-scale wave energy.
Emerging players
- Mocean Energy: Scottish wave energy startup developing the Blue Star WEC with backing from the Wave Energy Scotland programme. Emerging peer at an earlier commercial stage than WSE but pursuing overlapping utility and offshore-oil-and-gas customer segments.
- AWS Ocean Energy: Scottish developer of the Archimedes Waves Swing wave energy converter, an early-stage direct peer in submerged/bedrock-anchored WEC technology with utility and island-grid customer overlap.
- CalWave Power Technologies: U.S. early-stage developer of modular floating wave energy converters with DOE ARPA-E and CalWave-funded ocean trials. Emerging peer at the WEC technology validation stage, with overlapping U.S. DOE engagement and target utility/ocean-energies customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Ørsted: Global offshore wind and marine-renewables leader, historically active in wave and tidal energy development before refocusing on offshore wind. Broad incumbent relevant as a potential strategic partner, acquirer, or comparator on marine-renewable project economics.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Wave Swell social profiles
Digital presenceWave Swell financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wave Swell leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Wave Swell funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wave Swell M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wave Swell
What does Wave Swell do?
Wave Swell Energy designs, builds and deploys the UniWave200 — a 200kW wave energy converter based on patented unidirectional Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology — that converts ocean wave energy into clean electricity. The company sells and commissions these units on a project basis to utilities, island grid operators, coastal infrastructure owners and government-backed energy agencies, with additional revenue potential from licensing the patented OWC architecture internationally.
Is Wave Swell a public or private company?
Wave Swell is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Wave Swell founded?
Wave Swell was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Wave Swell based?
Wave Swell is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Wave Swell make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Wave Energy Hardware Sales and Project Deployment is the primary driver. The others are electricity Generation and Export, technology Licensing and integrated Data Centre Services.
Who are Wave Swell's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Carnegie Clean Energy, Ocean Power Technologies, Eco Wave Power, CorPower Ocean, AW-Energy and Bombora Wave Power. Emerging players are Mocean Energy, AWS Ocean Energy and CalWave Power Technologies. Ørsted is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Wave Swell have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wave Swell.
What industry is Wave Swell in?
Wave Swell's product category is Wave Energy Hardware / Marine Renewable Energy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUACAJAC, Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Power Generation, with a secondary code of EUAMAOAD, Marine & Hydrokinetic R&D (Tidal, Wave, River Current, OTEC). Its NAICS code is 2211 and its SIC code is 4911.