How One Startup Turns Ocean Waves Into Grid Power

Lucas and Luna dive into the world of wave energy, focusing on one startup — CorPower Ocean — that has cracked the code on harnessing ocean swells for baseload electricity. They explain how the company's 'heaving buoy' technology uses a novel phase-control system to amplify wave motion by a factor of three, making wave power cost-competitive with offshore wind for the first time. The conversation touches on the scale of the resource — the International Energy Agency estimates wave energy could supply 10 percent of global electricity by 2050 — and why earlier attempts failed due to over-engineering and corrosion. Lucas walks through CorPower's pilot deployment off the coast of Portugal, which survived a winter storm that destroyed a competitor's device, and Luna pushes back on the intermittency challenge, leading to a nuanced discussion about how wave power complements solar and wind. The episode ends with a look at the economics: levelized cost of energy around $90 per megawatt-hour in the latest test, with a roadmap to $50 by 2030. #CorPowerOcean #WaveEnergy #OceanEnergy #RenewableEnergy #GridPower #CleanTech #ClimateTech #BlueEconomy #Portugal #HeavingBuoy #PhaseControl #Baseload #LevelizedCost #EnergyTransition #Decarbonization #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo