Tremont Electric, creator of the motion-powered gadget charger, wants to scale up its kinetic energy harvesting tech to turn theGreat Lakes into a power plant — of sorts.
The nPower Wave Energy Converter developed by the Cleveland-based company is about the size of an automobile and can be integrated into buoys. Inside the converter is a magnet, which moves along with an induction coil to generate pulses of current. A mechanical fuse line would runs from the anchor to the buoy as a primary elastic line (see graphic below). That current is then collected at a transfer hub and delivered to the power grid. Voilà, wave-generated electricity for all! Or at least for folks who live nearby.
The tech inside the wave converter is essentially the same as its personal energy generator (PEG), which charges a battery when a magnet, placed between two springs, moves up and down. ThePEG device is tuned for walking, but it also has the ability to harvest ambient vibrations from pedaling around on a bike or riding in a car or train. 
Founder and CEO Aaron LeMieux says in the video below the wave converter would be commercially viable and able to compete with coal-fired electricity. He claims the wave electricity could be sold at 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. He also sees an opportunity for the devices to be made in Ohio, a state where 10.3 percent of displaced workers have come from the manufacturing industry.
The company proposes anchoring clusters of buoys onto the floor of Lake Erie. According to a recent video produced by the company, testing was supposed to be conducted this past summer.
