At the port of Los Angeles, on a site that once housed oil tanks, seven steel structures that look like small blue boats are lowered into the ocean, where they gently bob up and down with the waves’ motions to generate power.

This is the nation’s first onshore wave energy site. Eco Wave Power installed its technology on an unused concrete wharf at the port’s AltaSea ocean institute, a nonprofit.

It will generate a small amount of electricity, but the goal is to prove it works so it can be added along miles of breakwater and produce enough power for about 60,000 homes.

Inna Braverman, the company's co-founder and CEO, said that much power could be a “game changer."

"We see the perfect combination here of marine life and clean energy living together without interference," she told The Associated Press.

Wave energy is an emerging industry, largely still focused on demonstration and pilot projects and ongoing research. But the potential for generating clean energy is big.

Waves off the coasts of the United States generate enough power to meet roughly one-third of America’s energy needs, according to Department of Energy estimates.

Even if only a portion is harnessed, wave energy technologies could help meet the growing demand for electricity being driven, in large part, by the artificial intelligence race, and also complement wind and solar to stabilize the electric grid.

Eco Wave Power installed its technology at the port’s AltaSea ocean institute, a nonprofit working, in part, to advance ocean-based solutions to climate change. Half of this pilot project was funded by the oil and gas company Shell.

On Tuesday, the company will officially unveil the installation and begin operating its technology. Experts say the technology is scalable and the unveiling is another step towards one day harnessing ocean waves to create clean electricity.

AP Video by Eugene Garcia