Icelandic SME building electromagnetic power harvesting devices that self-power electricity line monitoring in remote grid locations.
Laki Power is an Icelandic technology company that develops electromagnetic energy harvesting devices designed to attach directly to overhead power lines and convert their surrounding electromagnetic field into usable electricity. Their core product enables sensors and monitoring equipment to operate on remote grid infrastructure without separate power cabling — solving a real pain point for grid operators managing lines in difficult terrain. They progressed through the EU SME Instrument in textbook fashion: a Phase 1 feasibility study (POLG, 2016) followed by a full Phase 2 commercialization project (PowerGRAB, 2021), suggesting a company that has moved from prototype to market-ready product. Their target application is real-time electricity line monitoring powered entirely by energy harvested from the line itself.
Both POLG (2016) and PowerGRAB (2021) center on the same core technology: an on-line generator that harvests energy from high-voltage electricity lines using electromagnetic induction.
PowerGRAB explicitly targets modern electricity grid applications with 'electricity line monitoring' listed as a core keyword, indicating the harvesting device is paired with monitoring functionality.
POLG specifically addresses 'remote areas' where running dedicated power cables is impractical, positioning the technology as a self-powered solution for off-grid sensor deployment.
Their H2020 participation follows a tight, focused arc: the 2016 POLG project was a small feasibility study (EUR 50,000, SME Phase 1) with no recorded keywords, consistent with early-stage concept validation rather than a named product. By 2021, PowerGRAB arrived with a EUR 2 million Phase 2 grant and a clear keyword set — on-line generator, electricity line monitoring, power harvesting — showing the technology had matured into a defined commercial offering. The four-year gap between projects likely reflects development and testing work outside the EU funding system before returning with a commercialization-ready product.
Laki Power is moving toward commercialization of a grid-attached energy harvesting product aimed at utilities and grid operators who need self-powered monitoring on remote or difficult-to-access electricity lines.
Laki Power has acted as coordinator on both of their H2020 projects, with no recorded consortium partners — a pattern consistent with the SME Instrument program, which is designed for individual companies driving their own technology to market rather than collaborative research networks. This means they are the IP owner and primary decision-maker in their technology development, not a subcontractor or research partner in someone else's project. Organizations considering working with them should expect to engage directly with the technology and its inventors, which can be an advantage for licensing or commercial pilot discussions.
No consortium partners are recorded across their two H2020 projects, which reflects the solo-applicant structure of the SME Instrument rather than an absence of industry relationships. Their funding and project activity is entirely Iceland-based, with European reach through the EU programs they participated in.
Laki Power occupies a very specific niche — electromagnetic energy harvesting from live overhead power lines — that has few direct competitors in the EU H2020 dataset. Their successful progression from SME Instrument Phase 1 to Phase 2 is a meaningful signal: it means independent European evaluators validated both the technology concept and the commercial case at two separate checkpoints. For grid operators, utilities, or smart grid system integrators looking for a self-powered line monitoring solution, Laki Power appears to be one of the few SMEs that has taken this technology through a full funded development cycle.
