A prototype of a wave energy machine, AquaBuoy, has been tested in the Pacific Ocean, off Newport, Oregon, in the NW USA. Developed by a Canada-based company, Finavera Renewables Inc. of Vancouver, AquaBuoy is a cylindrical device that floats vertically in the ocean and bobs up and down under the action of the waves. Only the top portion of the AquaBuoy is visible above the surface. The current prototype is half-scale; full-size units will be 13m in diameter, 48m long, and weighs about 65tns. The longer, submerged portion of the largely empty cylinder has a piston that moves up and down with the waves, pushing water alternately up and down through “accelerator tubes” to two-stroke hose pumps that pressurize the water and direct it to a Pelton turbine. The turbine in turn powers an electric generator in the upper portion of the device. Power then flows through an underwater cable to on-shore users. Each AquaBuoy has the potential to generate up to 250kW in 4-to-5m waves. In addition to the piston, accelerator tubes, pumps and Pelton turbine, various check valves, manifolds, and other piping, are all exposed to the corrosive effects of seawater. Nickel-containing stainless steels and other nickel alloys is needed for many, perhaps all, of these components.