Israeli Startup’s Wave Energy Technology Intrigues Allies and Foes

(Eco Wave Power via ISRAEL21c) (Eco Wave Power via Israel 21c)

Eco Wave Power CEO Ilana Braverman says she has been approached by companies in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.

By Shula Rosen

Investors and companies from allied countries and even less friendly nations have approached an Israeli startup that harnesses the ocean’s waves to generate electricity, according to the Times of Israel.

Companies from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran have approached Eco Wave Power CEO Ilana Braverman, who concludes that interest in renewable energy “knows no borders.”

The startup recently demonstrated its technology project at the Jaffa Port with EDF Renewables Israel, its strategic partner.

Eco Wave Power generates energy through floaters on the ocean’s surface that respond to waves. These floaters are connected to pistons that send fluid to generators and produce electricity. The fluid then is then sent back into the system, eliminating waste and byproducts.

The technology can be used on existing structures, such as piers, and is more environmentally friendly than similar technology because it is not built into the ocean floor.

The technology functions even during storms that produce unusually high waves because the floaters can be positioned above the surface of the sea.

Eco Wave Power is Israel’s only grid-connected wave project, with a capacity of 100 kilowatts, enough to power 100 homes.

Braverman hopes to replicate the demonstration in Jaffa with similar 100-kilowatt projects in ports in Los Angeles and Taiwan.

She told the Times of Israel that the technology becomes profitable “once it reaches megawatt scale.”

The realization of this goal may be achieved with the construction of a 20-megawatt project in Porto, Portugal, that will power 20,000 households.

Braverman says Eco Wave Power is looking for investors and must also overcome regulatory hurdles before countries adopt the technology.

“It’s a new technology,” she told TOI. “Many countries want our technology but don’t have the policy, the legislative framework, or the feed-in tariff for wave energy.”

Born close to Chernobyl, Ukraine, Braverman suffered cardiac arrest when she was still a baby, after the infamous nuclear accident in the 1980s.

This gave her a feeling of purpose in life, she has often said.