As AI computing scales globally, electricity demand is becoming the limiting factor, and wave energy—optimized through N
As accelerated computing expands across AI factories, agentic AI, industrial AI, edge computing and robotics, global electricity demand is rising at unprecedented speed. Expanding grid infrastructure to meet this need requires years of permitting, transmission upgrades, land acquisition and capital investment, fundamentally reshaping how the world approaches energy infrastructure for AI.
Eco Wave Power, a member of NVIDIA's Inception startup program Sustainable Futures initiative, is developing technology powered by NVIDIA AI infrastructure and digital twins that converts ocean wave energy into clean electricity using existing marine infrastructure. By leveraging already-built coastal structures, wave energy can be deployed closer to areas with growing power demand, including ports, industrial zones and AI infrastructure hubs.
"Wave energy is one of the largest renewable energy sources that exists," said Inna Braverman, cofounder and CEO of Eco Wave Power. "Everybody wants it, but nobody can do it, so I looked at the current problems with harnessing wave power and I asked: How do we simplify it?"
In the U.S. alone, wave energy could produce over 60 percent of annual energy consumption according to the Energy Information Administration. The technology uses floating infrastructure attached to breakwaters or sea walls to capture power from waves breaking against the shoreline. Seawater density is roughly 800 times denser than air, allowing larger amounts of energy to be generated using much smaller devices than wind turbines.
Unlike earlier approaches where computer hardware was placed in floaters and damaged during rough conditions, Eco Wave Power locates computers, sensors, hydraulic conversion and electrical components on land at centers, keeping expensive hardware dry and protected from storms.
"Wave energy is the least intermittent source of renewable energy," Braverman said. "Solar energy, for example, is great, but you have night, winter, cloud coverage and pollution that all impact production. With wave energy, you can generate around the clock."
Digital twins of wave patterns and floating infrastructure, built with NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, simulate wave conditions, structural behavior, deployment configurations and operational scenarios before physical installation. These virtual environments optimize engineering decisions, reduce deployment risk and accelerate infrastructure planning. NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI technologies enable real-time optimization through predictive analytics, anomaly detection, environmental forecasting and predictive maintenance. AI models continuously analyze ocean conditions, equipment performance and energy generation patterns to improve efficiency and operational resilience. AI can also orchestrate energy-aware computing infrastructure by aligning energy-intensive workloads with periods of stronger renewable generation.
Eco Wave Power operates projects in Jaffa Port, Israel, created with EDF Power Solutions and the Israeli Energy Ministry, and in the Port of Los Angeles, developed with AltaSea and Shell. New projects are in development in Portugal at the Port of Leixões, Suao Port in Taiwan, and Mumbai, India, with Bharat Petroleum.
Pilots are already underway at the Port of Los Angeles demonstrating how wave energy can be the sole power source for a data center without tapping into the existing grid. AI software serves as the control layer, planning compute tasks based on available power supply. The software monitors and predicts when waves will be stronger throughout the week based on weather patterns and accordingly allocates more intensive compute tasks during these periods.
"We exist, we work, we're grid connected and we have so much of this resource," Braverman said. "The energy is needed now, so I think we're in the right place at the right time and we're innovative, but we're not futuristic, and that's what sets us apart."