CorPower Ocean awarded €17.5m by European accelator

Wave energy developer CorPower Ocean has been selected as a winner of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme.

The company has been awarded a total of €17.5 million ($18.3 million), including €2.5 million ($2.6 million) in grant and a pre-commitment and €15 million ($15.7 million) in equity investment, to speed up commercialisation of its wave energy technology.

More specifically, the funds will be used to advance CorPower's novel CorPack solution, not only scaling the technology but also to optimise efficiency of the manufacuring processes.

The announcement follows a recent successful Series B1 funding round, which attracted €32 million ($34 million) in private investment, indicating an increasing awareness of the potential marine energy solutions can offer.

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Patrik Möller, CEO of CorPower Ocean, commented in a statement: “This significant funding from the EIC Accelerator is a validation of the groundbreaking work our team is doing in harnessing the power of ocean waves. With this support, we can accelerate our work to bring our robust and efficient wave energy solutions to the global market, contributing to a sustainable and resilient energy future.”

The EIC Accelerator (previously known as SME Instrument) is part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot programme, which aims to support innovation and research through financing. The EIC Accelerator has to date awarded 71 companies selected from a pool of 1,211 applicants.

CorPower's tech

CorPower's technology, inspired by the pumping principle of the human heart, features a point absorber type converter, with a heaving buoy on the surface absorbing energy from ocean waves. The buoy is connected to the seabed using a tensioned mooring system.

The solution uses a real-time control system, which runs on model-based optimal control algorithms that maximise the power output while ensuring safe operation in tough ocean conditions.

Over the past few years, Corpower Ocean has achieved impressive results from its various phases of testing. The focus of these tests has been to improve cost efficiency and survivability of the device.

Besides proving survivability, the team has also managed to lower costs by using a composite hull in the C4 machine, rather than steel which is more prone to material price fluctuations. Also, fully automated processes to manufacture resin and fiberglass has made the process more efficient, reducing LCOE by 70%.

The C4 wave energy converter is currently being demonstrated in Portugal and is feeding power to the grid.

Learn more about how CorPower's technology is making waves in Portugal and beyond.