AW-Energy First Wave Energy Company To Sign $4.4M Contract With The New EU Project

AW-Energy, a Finnish cleantech company developing a unique and patented wave energy technology brand named WaveRoller, has signed a $4.4M (3 million euros) contract with the European Union to demonstrate its technology. Ocean energy technology represents the largest untapped business potential within the renewables sector.

The contract between AW-Energy and the EU is the first one under the "CALL FP7 - Demonstration of the innovative full size systems." Several leading wave energy companies participated to the CALL. The contract includes a 3 million euro grant agreement, providing significant support to the demonstration project.

The goal of the project is to manufacture and deploy the first grid-connected WaveRoller unit in the Portuguese waters. The exact installation site is located near the town of Peniche, which is famous of its wave resources and also known as "Capital of the waves." The nominal capacity of the WaveRoller unit is 300 kW and the project includes a one-year testing period.

The consortium led by AW-Energy includes companies from Finland, Portugal, Germany and Belgium. Industrial heavy weights like Bosch-Rexroth and ABB, together with renewable energy operator Eneolica and wave energy specialist Wave Energy Center, are delivering their best know-how to ensure successful implementation of the project.

"The experience of our dream team consortium is a significant asset to the project, and we are thrilled about this real pan-European co-operation. AW-Energy has been working hard the last three years with two sea installed prototypes, tank testing and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. Now we have the site, grid connection permission, installation license and the technology ready for the demonstration phase," says John Liljelund, CEO at AW-Energy.