COMPANY HISTORY
power
The power in the wave surge is observed by the diver and inventor Rauno Koivusaari during a dive on the Finnish coast. He sees the strong back-and-forth movement of a large hatch in a shipwreck and realizes that the power could be harnessed.
ground breaking
The first groundbreaking proof-of-concept panel prototypes are installed in the sea by Rauno and his small team of enthusiastic experts. The first devices validated the concept of utilizing wave power by pumping seawater on shore.
waveroller
The behaviour and energy production of the WaveRoller panel is tested and analytically verified at a laboratory. The development of a PTO system starts, and first patent applications related to the technology are filed.
installation
Small-scale wave farms are installed at ocean sites in Scotland and Ecuador. The prototypes provide a wealth of information to the team related to survivability and operation in different ocean environments.
prototype
A 1:4 scale prototype WaveRoller is installed at a fully exposed ocean site in Portugal. After four months of operation, the device is lifted and fitted with an upgraded PTO before returning to the sea. The hydraulic PTO concept is proven to work in wave energy conversion
funding
AW-Energy wins EU funding and leads a consortium to build, install and operate a 1:2 scale demonstration WaveRoller in Portugal over the period of three years. The demonstration WaveRoller includes three panels installed on a single steel foundation and verifies its power production and the patented WaveRoller deployment method.
test facility
A full-size PTO test facility is opened in Järvenpää by the President of the Republic of Finland. The test facility is used to test and optimize the commercial WaveRoller devices. The WaveRoller team increases in size to include experts on several related fields.
commercial
AW-Energy grows its supplier network and the first commercial WaveRoller is created alongside a rigorous technology qualification process validated by Lloyd’s Register. WaveRoller is manufactured, assembled, tested and certified in several locations around Europe.
in action
The First-Of-A-Kind commercial-scale WaveRoller is deployed near Peniche, Portugal. The device began to feed electricity to the Portuguese national grid on 14.11.2019 at 20:34.
WaveFarm
AW-Energy receives funding from the EU to create an industrial package for customers. The WaveFarm project enables work on infrastructure, product documentation and other aspects customers need to deploy an array of WaveRoller units.
Successful recovery
The First-Of-A-Kind commercial-scale WaveRoller is successfully recovered and towed back to Peniche harbour after surviving two full winters at the site.
Product Family
The WaveRoller product family was launched. From small scale to utility scale, customers can now select technology that meets their needs.