EU Approval: Seal of Excellence for AW-Energy Oy and its WaveRoller Wave Energy Project.

Finnish company, AW-Energy Oy (AWE), the global leading wave energy technology company and developer of WaveRoller, has received the EU Seal of Excellence award from Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation funding programme. It follows the company's project submission to the EU's EIC Accelerator programme.

Christopher Ridgewell, CEO of AWE, says: "We are delighted our project is recognised with the EU Seal of Excellence. It clearly demonstrates recognition of our commercial competence and excellence in innovation, supported by our in-house technical expertise, to deliver a market-ready device that is tested and proven as a near-shore wave energy converter (WEC)."

An international judging panel including business angels, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and experts from innovation hubs, evaluated AWE's wave energy project. It was judged to provide strong added-value, being commercially viable and better than existing solutions on the market.

The wave energy sector represents significant opportunities for investment as global energy needs are predicted to rise, combined with the political and social pressure to supply future energy using sustainable, low carbon sources.

Wave energy is itself a highly predictable form of energy, 24/7, 365 days a year, and a CO2-free power source for hundreds of millions of people. AWE's technology helps to extract energy from waves that are accessible to 80% of the world's largest cities, which are in coastal areas. Theoretical estimates have recently been published which show global output of wave power to be 29,500 TWh/yr, equivalent to 125% of the current global demand for electricity.

With projects in US, Europe and Asia, AWE expect to see rapid sales for its wave energy technology as governments, operators and energy policy strive for cleaner and more sustainable power generation solutions ahead of next year's global UN climate talks.

It is leading this transformation across the global wave energy sector with its WaveRoller ® technology that will go further and deeper in to the renewables energy mix. It pushes the boundaries with exciting results, and makes a valuable contribution as a hybrid 'plug-in' technology to the mix of wind and solar power generation.

The EU Seal of Excellence award recognizes AWE's technology as a viable solution in the transition to ocean-based renewable energy, and as a way for the sector to create jobs and revenue internationally.

It is also the first marine energy technology to be qualified through certification by Lloyd's Register to mitigate risks, and provide investors with confidence in the delivery of functional wave energy technology.

AW-Energy Oy | www.aw-energy.com