Startup makes game-changing breakthrough by harnessing power of crashing waves: 'Outstanding results'

An innovative French startup is harnessing the power of ocean waves to generate electricity. 

In a funding round, Seaturns reported raising €2.45 million ($2.87 million) from 1,543 investors to accelerate the technology's industrialization and deployment. 

"Seaturns' wave energy technology has shown outstanding results during 18 months of real-world testing, both in terms of electricity production and system resilience," said Renan Labrunie, chief operating officer of the fundraising platform Keenest.

The technology works as follows: A large, yellow cylinder floats horizontally at the water's surface. When a wave comes through, it pushes against the cylinder, causing it to move back and forth. This motion is called a surge.

Inside the cylinder, a water pendulum rotates and creates pressure and air flow for two air chambers. This air flow rotates a connected turbine to produce electricity. 

Seaturns noted that there are multiple advantages to this technology. It provides stable and uninterrupted power, offers a high energy density, uses three to five times less space than wind turbines, and can be installed quickly. 

The company projects to create over 400,000 sustainable jobs by 2050 and provide clean electricity for 700 million homes. 

Embracing the power of wave-generated renewable energy can help mitigate the worst effects of human-caused global heating. If people can generate electricity from sources outside dirty energy like coal and oil, we can reduce the amount of heat-trapping pollution that we are adding to the atmosphere.

Seaturns' innovation also has the advantage of low environmental impact from installation to operation. 

Some opponents of offshore wind energy dislike the visual presence of wind turbines or worry that their construction and operation will disturb wildlife and marine ecosystems. 

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However, Seaturns avoids both of these contentious points as the technology sits at the water line and is minimally invasive to the ecosystem. 

Other companies, especially in Europe, are making breakthroughs in wave energy technology. The London-based startup Spiralis Energy developed a screw-like tidal power generator. In the United States, Ocean Power Technologies is generating electricity from its power buoys. 

What sets Seaturns apart is the smaller, unintrusive, and powerful design of its technology. 

"I invested in Seaturns because we are … providing a concrete solution to decarbonization challenges," Seaturns Deputy CEO Lawrence Sigaud said.

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