"In total, the programme [called HiWave-5], represents an investment of 52 million Euros. It will end in the first four months of 2024, and by then we should have confirmed sufficient orders to invest in the next phase: mass production," Miguel Silva, the Swedish technology representative in Portugal said.

The person in charge, who was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a work meeting promoted by the Viana do Castelo Chamber with companies and entities linked to the renewable energy sector, said that "phases four and five of the project are in progress.”

"We are proving the technology and then making it marketable, allowing producers to access financing and develop projects that will complement other renewable energy sources," he specified.

According to Miguel Silva, in 2024, if the "promised orders" are confirmed, the company will proceed with the construction, in Viana do Castelo, of a production plant for wave energy converters.

CorPower Ocean is investing 16 million Euros in the construction of a Research and Development (R&D) centre in the seaport of the capital of Alto Minho.

The creation of this centre resulted from an agreement with the Administração dos Portos do Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL) and should be concluded by the end of November.

Miguel Silva said that this centre, which will employ 15 "highly qualified" workers, will produce, in 2021, "the first full-scale equipment capable of producing 300 kilowatts of energy", to be "installed in Aguçadoura, off Póvoa de Varzim, for testing".

"In 2022, three more pieces of equipment will be installed in the same area in order to exceed the target of 1.2 megawatts of energy to be generated. We want to take advantage of the approximately one terawatt of energy available at sea and that, until today, no one has been able to profit from successfully, in a massive way," he said.

At the centre (R&D), under construction in the city's commercial port, "all the components needed to produce the equipment will be developed and produced," and will also serve to centralise "all the maritime operations of placement, maintenance, observation and data collection" that they will produce.

Aníbal Matos, from the Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC), which is part of the international consortium responsible for the Atlantis project, highlighted the importance of the renewable energy 'cluster' being set up in Viana do Castelo, allowing for the creation of "a development pole linked to robotics for ocean energies".

The Atlantis project, promoted by the consortium comprising the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC), EDP (NEW - Centre for New Energy Technologies) and eight other partners from five countries, envisages an investment of 8.5 million Euros over three years to create, in Viana do Castelo, the first European centre to test robots in floating wind farms.

The "first European centre for testing marine robots in a real environment" will be set up at Windfloat Atlantic, the first floating wind farm in continental Europe, 20 kilometres off Viana do Castelo, by the Windplus consortium.

In July, it "began generating power to supply around 60,000 consumers a year, saving almost 1.1 million tonnes of CO2".

Windfloat Atlantic (WFA) represents an investment of 125 million Euros, coordinated by EDP, through EDP Renováveis, and integrating Principle Power, Repsol, Portugal Ventures and Metalúrgica A. Silva Matos.