Wave Star – the first steps

It was sailing enthusiasts, brothers Niels and Keld Hansen from Esbjerg who, in 2000, came up with the basic principle behind the Wave Star machine. Many happy years of life on the waves, combined with an interest in renewable energy (as a child Niels experimented with the building of small solar panels), gave them the idea for how to crack one of the greatest challenges faced in the exploitation of wave power. 

The challenge was this: How to harness a regular and stable energy source from waves which come rolling in at 5-10 second intervals.

The solution was the Wave Star machine with its design which cuts into the wave and exploits the entire length of the wave as the machine’s floats are lifted upwards one at a time, as the wave passes. 

Per Resen Steenstrup had just begun to look into the possibilities within commercial wave power himself, and Wave Star seemed to fulfil his own ideas about what would make a cost-effective machine. 

In 2003 he purchased the rights to the machine. Today Niels and Keld Hansen are employed as consultants at Wave Star. Among other things they follow the on-going testing of the test machine in Nissum Fjord.