CorPower Ocean has secured €9 million equity funding for its wave energy technology. The funding round was led by Midroc New Technology, with additional investment from ALMI Invest Greentech, EIT InnoEnergy and a group of private investors.
Proceeds will be used to demonstrate the first commercial scale wave energy converter (WEC) within CorPower’s flagship HiWave-5 project – and for the long-term development of supply and service capacity for commercial wave energy farms.
The equity funding, which is combined with public investments that co-fund the program, will support CorPower’s pan-European efforts in Sweden, Portugal, Scotland and Norway.
“This funding package marks another significant milestone in the firm’s mission to introduce a new class of certified and warrantied WEC products. We are pleased to see continued strong support from investors who share our vision of bringing reliable and competitive wave energy technology to the world, unlocking one of the largest untapped sources of clean energy on earth.”
CorPower Ocean CEO Patrik Möller.
The HiWave-5 demonstration project aims to convert CorPower’s wave technology into a bankable product by 2024, by proving the survivability, performance and economics of a grid-connected array of WECs in northern Portugal. This will unlock mainstream renewable project financing for commercial array projects developed by its customers.
This funding comes shortly after CorPower released plans for a new €16 million R&D, Manufacturing and Service Centre in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. The site will become a core focus for the HiWave-5 project with a showcase pilot wave farm planned in Aguçadoura.
“We have supported CorPower since 2012 and are happy with progress made to this point, having proven the principles and physics of the technology at sea. InnoEnergy has evaluated many ocean energy technologies and found CorPower advancing to a leading position in the race to make it a mainstream energy source. We look forward to the continued journey and are convinced that CorPower can play a significant role in the evolving sustainable energy mix and contribute to the European decarbonization targets.”
Ingvar Eriksson, BCO of EIT InnoEnergy Scandinavia.
“CorPower keeps delivering on targets and their prudent step-by-step approach brings credibility to the sector. This technology definitively has the capacity to make the world a better place and we are happy to see more and more of leading utilities and project developers engaging.”
Andreas Gunnarsson of Midroc New Technology .
“We see wave energy as a key technology in the transition to a 100% renewable electricity system. Wave energy can become a balancing source that enables high penetration of renewables with the lowest possible system cost.”
Markus Hökfelt of ALMI Invest Greentech.
