CorPower Ocean has secured a 10-year licence from Portuguese authorities that will unlock the demonstration phase of the firm’s flagship HiWave-5 wave energy project in the Atlantic Ocean.

The TUPEM license - awarded by the national Directorate-General for Natural Resources (DGRM) - provides a ‘Permit for the Private Use of the Maritime Space’ up to 12 miles off the coast of Aguçadoura in northern Portugal.

CorPower Ocean Country Manager Miguel Silva said the permit will help pave the way for a new class of high efficiency WEC products (see Notes to Editors.)

“CorPower has reached a series of milestones throughout 2020 and the TUPEM license is another significant step forward” he said. “This permit allows us to kickstart the final phases of our demonstration work in the Atlantic Ocean, which will test our next generation WECs within the most aggressive and challenging maritime conditions.”

“The Aguçadoura coastal zone is a world-renowned site for marine renewable energy and has previously hosted the demonstration of floating offshore wind technology, now fully operational and supplying electricity to Portugal’s grid. There is huge potential for wave energy developments to deliver consistent and predictable clean electricity along the Portuguese coast, either as standalone wave farms or combined with floating wind.”