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SINN Power looks back at favorable waves of the year behind

January 5, 2018

‘Preparing to ride the perfect wave’ is said to have been SINN Power’s motto in 2017. Has the German wave energy developer done just that? You can find out in an end-of-year review of the company’s activities.

The beginning of 2017 for the three-year-old start-up SINN Power was marked with an anniversary which celebrated one full year of its wave energy device deployment in Greece. The SINN Power wave energy converter survived every season that Greece had to offer, the company said, and the device was retrieved for upgrades.

The long-term data enabled the engineers in Germany to make a number of improvements, from an optimized generator stack with increased power output, more efficient power electronics and advanced end-stop buffering to absorb the impact of high waves, the company added.

In February, SINN Power’s CEO Philipp Sinn took home the ‘Most Innovative Young Company Award’ for the start-up, which was bestowed by the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE).

The company received another great news in August when it was awarded €1 million grant from the the German government. The funding support will serve for the extension of research activities on Crete, where SINN Power plans to install five additional wave energy converter modules in spring 2018 next to the already existing prototype.

SINN Power’s device produces power as the up and down motion of the waves lift the floating bodies of the individual modules, which in turn lift a rod that runs through a generator unit, resulting in electricity generation (Photo: SINN Power)

 
One month later, the startup reached another milestone when it received green-light for a commercial wave energy project in Cape Verde in Africa. Starting from 2018, the company plans to cover an organic shrimp farm’s energy needs by installing a wave energy converter array backed up by a solar power plant.

Once installed, the array of 21 wave energy converter modules will save about 50,000 liters of fuel or approximately €75,000 per year, according to SINN Power.

The year came to a close with SINN Power’s entry into an exciting race in the world of cleantech.

Namely, the company was selected among top 10 nominees for the finals of the GreenTec Awards that honor innovative products and projects that lead the way towards a more environmentally friendly future.