For Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan, we spoke with co-founder Cas van de Voort. Cas, can you tell us how this journey began?
“For me, it all started on the island of Bonaire. I studied Science and Innovation Management in Utrecht, which I enjoyed, but I felt that research alone wasn't enough. Real innovation needs businesses to bring ideas into the world. That led me to study Economics and Business, followed by a Master’s in Bioprocess Engineering. After graduation, I went to Bonaire for a research project exploring algae as a source of biofuels. In my free time, I started diving deeper into energy transitions and fuels.
Climate change has become impossible to ignore, and geopolitically, energy plays a major role. More energy means more prosperity worldwide, and that got me thinking about how energy transitions happen.
Back in the Netherlands, I met Luc Hogervorst. I already had a strong affinity for the ocean and an interest in energy transition, but I had never made the link to wave energy. Luc did. He’s kind of a genius. He built a wave energy converter for his high school graduation project. He later studied Mechanical Engineering and Systems & Control Engineering in Delft, graduating with a focus on wave energy from a theoretical perspective. Then he moved into practical solutions while working at an engineering firm. Together, we decided to develop a company that would bring wave energy to market.”
And that’s how WECO was born.
“We gradually built a team around us. Eert joined, working on sensors. Francesco, a marine biologist who had experience at The Ocean Cleanup, came on board after seeing similarities between the projects. Cyril, who I knew from high school, is trained as an aerospace engineer. He introduced us to open-source software perfect for our needs and built our first prototype. Today, our team has grown to include 10 members. Then we began looking for investors. Progress on the tech side was initially slower than expected, but we secured support through sustainability grants, private investors, and a small tech fund. We were also connected with experts who have long careers in the energy sector. One of them is Jan Ebbing, a seasoned project manager that has worked on the energy transition in several roles, who has joined us as a mentor. We chose The Hague as our base because of its coastal location and proximity to Deltares and TU Delft. The Scheveningen area is becoming more open to innovation, including the offshore test site for new energy technologies.”
What exactly does your Wave Energy Converter do?
“A key part of attracting investment is showing what sets us apart. One insight from Luc’s research was that horizontal wave motion holds twice as much energy as vertical motion. Most wave energy is concentrated at the waterline, but traditional systems require large volumes to stay buoyant and rotate. This leads to high costs and complex installation. Our design allows for better scalability. We use only standard materials that can be locally sourced and assembled on-site. This makes our converter lightweight, modular, and the only one that operates using horizontal motion to extract wave energy.
Thanks to this design, we can also iterate much faster. Traditional development cycles take three to four years to reach the next prototype stage. We can do it in under a year. This is part of why wave energy hasn’t progressed as quickly as wind or solar. Those technologies were first developed on land and only later brought offshore. With wave energy, you have to go straight to the sea, which means lots of trial and error. But those challenges give WECO a long-term edge.
I envision future wave farms made up of many modules working in tandem. The small size of our units also makes them ideal for niche applications. Some users at sea only need a few kilowatts, like government weather stations or other sensor networks.
One of our current projects is an offshore charging station. It uses wave energy to power drones working at sea, inspecting cables or conducting research. As fewer people are willing to work offshore, we believe WECO’s technology fits perfectly with this emerging need.
Right now, we're working on market validation. What kind of demand is there for these solutions? Our colleague Julia Baas is focused on gathering user insights and market intelligence. We’re also exploring opportunities around the electrification of offshore platforms.”
You’re now exhibiting at Expo. Your Wave Energy Converter even has a Japanese name. Do you have ambitions in Japan?
“Our innovation is officially called the KAIZEN Wave Energy Converter. Kaizen is a Japanese concept focused on continuous, incremental improvement in processes, products, and practices to enhance efficiency and quality over time. That perfectly captures our approach.
The Netherlands is a water nation. We’re known for how we live with water and for our ability to harness its power. Our offshore sector is massive for such a small country. If there’s one country that could lead in wave energy, it’s the Netherlands.
That said, Japan is incredibly promising. It has a vast coastline and many inland bodies of water, making it a perfect fit for our technology. Since the Fukushima disaster, Japan has become largely dependent on imported energy, especially LNG and fossil fuels. But every country wants to be energy self-sufficient, whether for sustainability or geopolitical reasons. Japan could truly benefit from wave energy.
Other interesting markets include the US, Portugal, Chile, and Norway, but Japan is at the top of our list. They’re moving much faster on the energy transition than most countries. Apart from China, Japan is the largest LNG importer, about 65.9 million tons annually.
So we’re very excited that the Japanese public can discover WECO through Expo. Before we fully commit to the Japanese market, we’re focused on optimizing the technology. By 2030, we aim to have fully operational systems in place. We have global ambitions, but we’ll begin where the conditions are best and the need is greatest.
There’s enough wave energy potential to power the world three times over, and I’m certain that WECO will be part of that leap forward.”