AW-Energy, the Finnish wave energy developer we wrote about last week, has signed a €3m contract with the EU (press release). The contract itself includes a €3m grant agreement, which gives significant support to the demonstration project in the Portuguese waters.

The goal of the project is to manufacture and deploy the first grid-connected WaveRoller unit in Portugal (Peniche). The nominal capacity of the WaveRoller unit is around 300 kW (see the picture above) and the project also includes a one year testing period.  AW-Energy now has the site, grid connection permission, installation license and the technology itself ready for the demonstration.

The consortium, lead by AW-Energy, includes companies from Finland, Portugal, Germany and Belgium. Involved in this project are industrial giants like Bosch-Rexroth and ABB, the renewable energy operator Eneolica and the wave energy specialist Wave Energy Center.