French oil giant TotalEnergies has agreed to partner wave technology specialist CorPower Ocean in developing the Swedish company's anchored wave energy converter (WEC) concept.
The pair aim to explore an innovative technology for converting oceanic wave motion into electricity, and will evaluate it through a pilot project called HiWave-5 to be located at Agucadoura, in northern Portugal.
The programme involves the deployment and assessment of a WEC device, followed by three more advanced versions in a cluster formation.
The pilot aims to test the deployment and operation of a proposed turnkey solution for generating electricity from ocean waves, including key components like converters, moorings, cabling and a hub for power export, the partners said in a joint statement.
The extended test programme is expected to help assess CorPower's technology, operations and data collection while de-risking and maturing the technology.
TotalEnergies said it will bring its own expertise in offshore installation, maintenance, and operations to the programme.
The French giant has emerged as the oil and gas company with the biggest and most varied pipeline of renewable energy.
CorPower says its wave energy technology draws inspiration from the pumping principle of the human heart "enabling reliable and cost-effective harvesting of electricity from ocean waves".
The company's commercial director, Kevin Rebenius, described the pilot programme as a "powerful tool to build confidence in our technology and delivery capacity", predicting that wave energy will make an important contribution in the global transition towards a net-zero future.
Corentin de Leffe, TotalEnergies' R&D project manager for ocean energy said its participation in CorPower's pilot programme "demonstrates its commitment to develop new solutions for decarbonisation".
