“The potential is immense and infinite, but why aren't we achieving it? Because the sea is an expensive medium, but it is also a very aggressive medium”, Francisco Taveira Pinto, professor and director of the Hydraulics Laboratory at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, told Lusa.

During a visit to the laboratory, the specialist in hydraulics and water resources assured Lusa that the exploitation of wave energy essentially depends on the “survival capacity” of the technologies, since they have to be prepared to “resist” large waves, storms and, above all, salt water.

“If the materials are metallic, we will have problems. It is necessary to use composite materials that are better resistant to chlorides and the effects of the sea”, said Francisco Taveira Pinto, who believes that “sooner or later”, researchers will find answers to the set of technological challenges they currently face.

“We've been to the moon, we've got satellites cruising around Mars, we've got wind turbines floating in the sea. These are such complex technologies that I believe man will succeed. Now whether it's going to be five, ten or fifteen years from now, I don't know,” he added.