AI & Enterprise
As power shortages emerge as a global challenge driven by expanding artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, Nvidia's AI technology is also being used to develop renewable energy that converts ocean waves into electricity.
On June 25 local time, online media outlet Gigazine reported that wave energy company Eco Wave Power is pushing to develop a next-generation wave power system using Nvidia AI infrastructure and Omniverse digital-twin technology.
The company chose to install generation equipment on existing coastal infrastructure such as ports and breakwaters instead of building new power plants. It plans to locate the equipment near areas with high power demand such as data centres and industrial complexes to reduce burdens on transmission networks.
Power demand is surging as AI data centres spread, but expanding transmission networks takes years due to permits, land acquisition and large-scale investment, making the use of existing coastal facilities an alternative drawing attention.
Eco Wave Power is also taking part in a sustainability project under Nvidia's startup support programme, Inception. The core is to reproduce waves and the movement of floating structures in virtual space with a digital twin before building actual generation equipment.
Using Nvidia Omniverse, it simulates wave patterns, structural behaviour, equipment layout and operating scenarios in advance to find an optimal design. It said this can speed up design decisions and cut construction costs and trial and error.
Inna Braverman (인나 브라바먼), co-founder and chief executive officer, called wave energy one of the largest renewable energy resources and said the development focuses on reducing complexity that has hindered commercialisation.
The technical structure has also changed from earlier approaches. In the past, computers, sensors and control equipment were installed directly on floating structures at sea, creating problems with failures in harsh marine environments. It has now changed the design by moving computers, sensors, hydraulic conversion devices and electrical equipment onshore so expensive equipment can be operated in a safer environment.
The biggest advantage of wave power is seen as stable generation. Braverman said wave power has the lowest variability among renewable energy sources and, unlike solar power, is not heavily affected by night-time, winter or cloudy weather, making 24-hour generation possible.
Eco Wave Power is already running demonstration projects in several countries. At Israel's Jaffa Port, it is working with EDF Power Solutions and Israel's Ministry of Energy. At the Port of Los Angeles in the United States, it is operating a project involving AltaSea and Shell. It is also pushing new projects at Portugal's Leixoes Port, Taiwan's Su'ao Port and in Mumbai, India.
At the Port of Los Angeles in particular, a demonstration project has also begun to verify whether a data centre can be operated using wave power alone. It is a test to check whether AI data centre power can be supplied without relying on the existing power grid.
Nvidia is also presenting technology that uses AI to automatically schedule high-power tasks during hours with strong renewable generation or to optimise energy use across an entire distributed power system in real time.
This project is viewed as a case that tests a new energy infrastructure model in which AI integrates equipment design and operation and data centre power management, going beyond simple renewable power generation.
This content was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team. You can read the original version in Korean here.
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