Abstract: A novel intelligent model predictive control (MPC) based on the marine predators algorithm is proposed in this paper to dynamically achieve the output power maximization of the wave energy converter (WEC). In the MPC for WEC, the MPA is applied to obtain the optimal control force. The nonlinear restriction of unidirectional power flow is considered in the proposed method. The excellent optimization accuracy and fast convergence ability of MPA are verified through corresponding comparisons. In addition, the control horizon is adopted to handle optimal control variables so that the computational burden and optimization accuracy of the method can be balanced. The proposed method is beneficial to the multi-dimensional WEC system, especially for solving its nonconvex problem and nonlinear constraints. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can improve the output power of the WEC and satisfy the real-time requirement in typical sea conditions.