Wave Power

How much energy do waves carry?

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Deep-water wave power: $P \approx 0.49 H^2 T$ kW per metre of crest.
• Power grows as height squared: storms carry huge power.
• Surviving extreme seas makes wave energy hard to harvest.

Steps

1. Energy in a wave
2. A typical Atlantic swell
3. Thirty kilowatts
4. Double the height
5. A bigger swell
6. Why so hard?