Solar electricity generation is proliferating globally and becoming a key pillar of the decarbonization era. Lunar energy is taking a lot longer; tidal and wave energy is tantalizingly easy to see; step into the surf in high wave conditions and it's obvious there's an enormous amount of power in the ocean, just waiting to be tapped. But it's also an incredibly harsh and punishing environment, and we're yet to see tidal or wave energy harnessed on a mass scale.

That doesn't mean people aren't trying – we've seen many tidal energy ideas and projects over the years, and just as many dedicated to pulling in wave energy for use on land. There are a lot of prototypes and small-scale commercial installations either running or under construction, and the sector remains optimistic that it'll make a significant clean energy contribution in years to come.

We hadn't run across SWEL before, but this company, operating between the UK and Cyprus, has been developing, prototyping and testing its Waveline Magnet devices for a long time now. In the simplest terms, you can conceive them as long, modular chains of plastic floats designed to sit on top of the water, lined up pointing directly into the waves.

As waves come through, the floats follow the contours of the water, creating a serpentine motion in these chains of floats. Rather than connecting directly to one another, the floats are attached to rigid, non-buoyant spine pieces via lever arms. The floats move with the waves, the spine stays relatively still, and the lever arms drive electrical generators inside the spine units on both their upward and downward motions.