Finnish companies trying for breakthrough in harnessing wave power

Teemu Penttilä

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Two Finnish companies, Ecowave and AW-Energy, are both attempting to make a technical breakthrough in wave energy technology.
      CEO Teemu Penttilä from Ecowave is holding in his hand a harmless-looking plastic spiral. However, the appearance is deceptive, as the piece of plastic models a turbine for which patent applications have been filed in 40 countries.
      ”No corresponding solution can be found anywhere in the world”, says Penttilä with some satisfaction.
      A full-size turbine would be several metres in height and would float on the waves supported by pontoons.
      Ecowave estimates that the invention would produce electricity on a par with three large wind power plants.
      ”If we manage to achieve an output of ten megawatts, then victory is ours”, Penttilä declares.
     
The small Finnish enterprises are quietly trying to turn wave power technology into an export item.
      According to estimates, a total of 70 to 90 various concepts exist worldwide to produce wave energy, but so far none of these ideas has led to permanent commercial production, which is why it is possible even for small enterprises to continue to do well in competition.
      ”Wave energy is fairly small in the Finnish coastal areas, which is why the prospects are great specifically in the export sector”, says Technology Director Reijo Munther from the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes).
     
The Espoo-based AW-Energy Oy has advanced the farthest.
      At present, the company that was founded in 2002 is conducting the prototype testing of its own concept off the Atlantic coast of Portugal.
      "In the Baltic Sea, the only area with enough wave power is between Denmark and Sweden”, notes CEO Tuomo Hyysalo.
      When it comes to the development stage, AW-Energy is clearly ahead of Ecowave.
      The company’s funding from Tekes, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, and other investors amounts to around a million euros, and yet the company remains a small-size enterprise.
     
The Hamina-based Ecowave has received EUR 45,000 from the Regional Council of Kymenlaakso. The support has been used to conduct basin tests and computer modelling.
      In order to build a prototype, the company has tried to raise money from private sources, as until now Tekes has not warmed to the invention.
      ”We have applied for funding from Tekes, but they have replied that it could encourage the entrepreneur to risk too much”, Penttilä sighs.
      However, Professor Peter Lund from the Helsinki University of Technology warns that unless the amount of public funding for wave energy is increased, Finland is likely to fall behind the development.
      For example, in Sweden wave energy technology is one of the country’s strategic development areas.
      Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy for electricity generation and other useful purposes.


Links:
  Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra
  Wave power (Wikipedia)
  Arctic Start-up: Ecowave
  AW-Energy
  Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes)

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