WAVE STAR AS

Their core work

Wave Star is a Danish wave energy technology SME based in Sønderborg that designs and demonstrates wave energy converters, with a particular focus on hybrid systems that combine wave power capture with offshore wind turbine platforms. Their engineering work covers mechanical design of multi-float wave absorbers, power take-off systems, and the marine integration of wave devices with existing offshore wind infrastructure. In H2020 they moved from training young researchers in offshore renewables to leading a full 1-MW demonstration of a wave energy converter installed inside an operating offshore wind farm — a rare example of a company that both builds the hardware and takes responsibility for at-sea demonstration.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Between 2015 and 2018 Wave Star's H2020 activity was oriented toward research-industry training: they hosted doctoral candidates through the ICONN industrial doctorate on offshore wind and wave energy. From 2016 onward they stepped into a coordinator role on UPWAVE, shifting the emphasis from researcher training to a large-scale, industry-led demonstration of an actual 1-MW wave machine inside a wind farm. The direction of travel is clearly from concept and skills development toward commercial-scale offshore demonstration.

They are moving from R&D partnerships toward leading industrial-scale offshore demonstrations, which makes them an interesting partner for anyone planning wave or hybrid ocean-energy pilots at MW scale.

How they like to work

Wave Star plays a dual role: a contributing industry partner in training networks and a consortium leader for demonstration projects. In UPWAVE they took on coordination of a EUR 11.8M Innovation Action with 11 partners across 6 countries, which is a significant responsibility for an SME. This mix suggests they are comfortable both supplying specific wave-energy know-how to larger consortia and carrying the management load when the project is close to their core hardware.

Across their two H2020 projects they worked with 11 distinct partners in 6 countries, with a clear North-Sea / Northern-European orientation typical of offshore wind and wave energy consortia.

What sets them apart

Few European SMEs have both designed their own wave energy converter and coordinated a MW-scale offshore demonstration — Wave Star has done both. Their specific angle is co-locating wave devices with existing offshore wind farms, which is operationally attractive because it shares grid connection, permits and O&M with the host wind farm. Partner with them when the project needs a hardware owner willing to lead, not just advise, on wave-energy at-sea pilots.

Highlights from their portfolio

• UPWAVE
  EUR 11.8M Innovation Action that they coordinate, demonstrating a 1-MW wave energy converter inside an operating offshore wind farm — one of the largest wave-energy demonstrations of the H2020 portfolio.
• ICONN
  European Industrial Doctorate that positioned Wave Star inside a joint industry-academia training network specifically on offshore wind and wave energy.