Wave energy: CorPower's C4 and the prototype certificate

Until July 2026, no wave energy converter had a prototype certificate issued by a classification society. CorPower Ocean's C4, operating in northern Portugal since 2023 and tested by waves of around 18.5 metres, was the first to receive DNV's Prototype Certificate.

The post does not state how much time separates spending on the prototype from the first contracted revenue. Ocean Energy Europe, in the report Ocean Energy Stats & Trends 2024, of April 2025, records that Europe has installed 13.5 MW of wave energy since 2010 and that only 830 kW remain in the water: 12.6 MW were decommissioned at the end of the demonstration programmes.

A certificate is a financing requirement, not a sales contract. The same report notes that developers still depend on European grants to reach the farm stage. Until then, the capital invested in the prototype remains tied up, with no cash flow to amortise the outlay.

The interval between spending on the prototype and the first contracted revenue is the variable that defines whether certification becomes a financeable asset.