Over the last two decades there have been a range of efforts to develop a marine renewable energy sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. There have been a modest number of successes along with the inevitable stalled ideas and lost effort. With the rapid growth of offshore wind in New Zealand being foreshadowed, it is a suitable time to record some of these early initiatives. The various projects, researchers and ideas all sought to improve the nation’s energy emissions profile before climate mitigation options became limited.