Norway’s Flex2Future has begun testing a scaled-down model of its offshore energy system in collaboration with research firm SINTEF. The startup’s CEO says the system, integrating solar, wave and wind energy, can deliver power at a relatively low cost per kWh.
May 6, 2026
Lior Kahana
Flex2Future’s scaled-down model
Image: SINTEF
Norwegian startup Flex2Future has started testing its offshore energy system integrating solar, wave and wind energy. The company has utilized a test ocean basin belonging to Norway-based research firm SINTEF to trial a scaled-down model of its structure.
George Katsikogiannis, project manager and Ships and Ocean Structures Scientist at SINTEF, told pv magazinethe research has involved laboratory tests focused primarily on the hydrodynamic behavior of the structure, as well as the power take-off performance of the wave energy modules.
We connect numerical models based on both weather data and decades of hydrodynamic expertise to the motors that pull and push the structure. This allows us to recreate realistic offshore conditions in the ocean basin, Katsikogiannis explained. At the same time as the wave makers operate according to predefined patterns to generate realistic sea conditions, we use wires attached to the structure at one end and sensors and motors at the other.
Flex2Future CEO Erik Svanes explained that the system delivers power at a relatively low cost per kWh because it utilizes three energy sources within a relatively small area.What SINTEF has managed to achieve with the power take-off and energy extraction from the cube tested in the Towing tank was absolutely outstanding, Svanes said.
Flex2Future is working towards completing a 19.2 MW pilot demonstration of its system, comprising 5 MW of wind turbine capacity, 14 MW of multi-motion wave energy converter capacity and 0.2 MW of PV capacity within a 136.6 m x 136.6 m x 52.8 m footprint by 2030. It then plans to begin delivering the system afterward.
Another concept system theorized by the startup encompasses a 40 MW wind turbine array, 59 MW of wave capacity and 1 MW of PV, for a total 100 MW of power capacity within a 500 m x 500 m x 52.8 m system.
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