Vantaa developer of the WaveRoller submerged-flap wave energy converter (AW-Energy Oy, business ID 1797737-9, registered 17 April 2003; Tikkurilantie 10, 01380 Vantaa; mechanical and process engineering in the Finnish register). Portugal is its proving ground: WaveRoller units were tested off Peniche in 2012 and 2019–2021, and the EU-funded ONDEP (Ondas de Peniche) project — €19 million from Horizon Europe, running from October 2024 for five and a half years under the coordination of Queen’s University Belfast with 14 partners — is deploying a grid-connected 2 MW array of four WaveRollers at the same site, with AW-Energy as lead technology provider. Its Portuguese permanent representation, AW-Energy Oy, Sucursal em Portugal (NIF 980449146, Esplanada do Castelo 22, 4150-196 Porto), is registered to build the demonstration system and sell its electricity.
Peniche is where WaveRoller has spent most of its operating life. AW-Energy tested the seabed-mounted flap off the Portuguese surf town in 2012 and again in 2019–2021, and in September 2024 the ONDEP consortium announced a €19 million Horizon Europe grant to build the technology’s first multi-unit array there: four WaveRollers, 2 MW, connected to the grid. The project started in October 2024 and runs for five and a half years, covering design, manufacturing, testing, deployment and operation; the farm is to keep generating for a further eight years after the project formally ends. Queen’s University Belfast coordinates 14 partners, with AW-Energy as lead technology provider.
The Portuguese branch exists to own that asset. AW-Energy Oy, Sucursal em Portugal, registered in Porto under NIF 980449146, has as its object the construction of a wave-energy demonstration system and the sale of the electricity it produces — the corporate wrapper for the Peniche array. ONDEP is also the launch pad for a wider commercial plan: the consortium says it aims to unlock 11 wave energy farms in eight countries on four continents, 83 MW in total, by 2030, and to demonstrate a levelised cost of energy below €100/MWh by 2035.
Portugal’s Atlantic coast has hosted wave-energy pilots for two decades without a commercial follow-through; ONDEP is the first EU-funded multi-unit array with a defined grid connection and operating period. For the corridor, it ties a Finnish technology company’s flagship project, and its commercial roadmap, to a Portuguese site, a Portuguese branch and Portuguese marine contractors.
October 2024 — ONDEP project starts; five-and-a-half-year programme to deploy the 2 MW Peniche array.
September 2024 — ONDEP consortium announces the €19 million Horizon Europe grant for the four-WaveRoller array at Peniche (Ocean Energy Europe, AW-Energy).
2019–2021 — WaveRoller demonstration unit operated off Peniche.
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