This article details 10 new underwater turbine companies representing developments in renewable energy and use the power of ocean currents to generate electricity. Recent advancements have developed more efficient and durable turbine designs that withstand harsh underwater environments while maximizing energy capture. Innovations such as improved blade materials, advanced anchoring systems, and real-time monitoring technologies take care of issues such as biofouling, corrosion, and maintenance accessibility.
Continue reading to gain up-to-date and data-driven insights on:
- Profiles of 10 Emerging Underwater Turbine Companies
- How to Scout New Underwater Turbine Companies Easily
Click to download
Key Takeaways
Drawing insights from the Big Data & AI-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform that provides data on over 4.7+ million emerging companies globally, we explore the evolving landscape of the underwater turbine industry. This sector is marked by key trends and a substantial workforce, shaping its future. Our latest update of this report was 5 days ago. If you found a mistake or missing information, tell us! Here are some key insights at a glance:
- Current Underwater Turbine Trends: The latest underwater turbine trends include low-maintenance turbines, bidirectional rotating turbines, energy storage integration, marine biodiversity preservation, and compact turbines.
- Underwater Turbine Industry Statistics: The sector comprises 1.7K+ organizations worldwide. Out of these, 140+ new underwater turbine companies were founded in the last five years, with 2020 as the average founding year. On average, each of these companies employs about 46 people. Moreover, the average funding received by these 140+ underwater turbine companies per round in the same span is USD 26.4 million.
- 10 New Underwater Turbine Companies to Watch:
- Sitkana – Tidal Energy Hydrogenerators
- Bluenergy Solutions – Hydrokinetic Turbines
- Marine Kinetic Energy – Kinetic Energy Power Plants
- Frontier Robotics – Autonomous Turbine Inspection
- WaveNRG – Floating Tidal Turbine
- Aslan Renewables – Modular Hydroelectric Dams
- Maini Renewables – Small Hydro Turbines
- SunPlower Propeller – Two Directional Thrust Propeller
- Equinox Ocean Turbines – Low Flow Speed Turbines
- Max Nicholas Renewables – Continuous Thrust Turbines
Meet 10 out of 140+ New Underwater Turbine Companies
In this section, we highlight 10 new underwater turbine companies that lead with advanced manufacturing techniques. They utilize new technologies to provide new sustainable materials, integrate smart sensors, and employ 3D technologies. Their efforts enhance the efficiency and durability of underwater turbines and reduce the ecological footprint and operational costs associated with renewable energy generation.
Note on Signal Strength
One of the unique metrics we feature for each company is Signal Strength, a proprietary data point generated by our Discovery Platform. It gauges the extent to which a company’s influence has permeated the global ecosystem of startups, scaleups, and emerging companies. This proprietary metric serves as a valuable guidepost for understanding a company’s standing in the broader market landscape.
1. Sitkana
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 1-10
- Location: USA
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: Sitkana develops personal hydrogenerators, Chinook and Orca. The Chinook, a 1.6 kW modular hydrogenerator weighs around 100 pounds and suits sailors, liveaboard owners, and off-grid individuals. The Orca, featuring customizable power from 3.6 kW to 16 kW, serves coastal households, communities, and full-size cities. These hydrogenerators anchor in tidal currents and mimic natural movements. Each Chinook directly connects to a battery via a cable to ensure consistent energy access. Orca hydrogenerators require onshore battery storage and support multiple Chinook units for scalable energy solutions.
2. Bluenergy Solutions
- Founding Year: 2020
- Employee Range: 11-50
- Location: Singapore
- Signal Strength: Strong
- What they do: Bluenergy Solutions manufactures hydrokinetic turbines that convert tides’ kinetic energy into electricity. The company’s product range includes microturbines of 100 W to 1 kW for off-grid river applications, larger turbines of 10 kW to 100 kW for both onshore and offshore use, and Bluenergy Solutions’ stations of 60kW to 600kW scalable to megawatt renewable energy farms. These solutions support applications from hydrogen production and flow cell batteries to potable water and satellite internet. They work in both off-grid and grid markets off-shore and onshore locations.
3. Marine Kinetic Energy
- Founding Year: 2019
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: USA
- Signal Strength: Medium
- What they do: Marine Kinetic Energy builds high-end underwater turbines utilizing ocean pressure for electricity generation. The company’s pressure-generated electricity technology leverages extreme pound-force per square inch (PSI) at ocean depths to propel turbine generators for continual power. It uses gravity and pressurized air to pass through tubes into the Sphere Enclosure Vehicle. This vehicle deploys nearly anywhere with sufficient ocean depth to enhance flexibility in energy harvesting. Marine Kinetic Energy systems suit applications including land-based power plants and vehicles, ships, and buildings. Moreover, the company offers solutions such as land-based and deep-water systems, low operational cost power generation, power plant upgrades, and high-efficiency portable power generator systems.
4. Frontier Robotics
- Founding Year: 2023
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: UK
- Signal Strength: Medium
- What they do: Frontier Robotics assists underwater exploration with autonomous software for subsea inspections and data analysis. Its platform-agnostic system integrates advanced stereo camera systems with edge computing to provide visual clarity and 3D mapping through simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology. The autonomy system ensures safe and efficient operations to enhance remotely operated vehicle (ROV) capabilities for asset inspection and marine exploration. The software’s intelligent sensing and autonomy optimize sensor usage, while the modular design allows the swapping of both software and hardware components to adapt to data inputs. It includes advanced imaging, image enhancement, intelligent autopilot, shared autonomy mode, and full autonomy experience.
5. WaveNRG
- Founding Year: 2019
- Employee Range: 1-10
- Location: France
- Signal Strength: Strong
- What they do: WaveNRG develops a wave energy-tidal turbine system to convert waves and marine current energy into electrical energy. Its floating tidal turbine uses a vertical axis turbine directly driving a generator to operate in tidal currents and wave motion. The turbine’s movement generates mechanical torque, transmitted by a shaft to an electric generator for ensuring unidirectional rotation. The system comes in two versions: a high-power of 0.8 to 1.2 MW floating tidal-wave turbine and a wave engine of 100 to 300 kW depending on wave height. This system assists in producing electricity, it reduces the mass of the tidal turbine system and the cost of installation at sea.
6. Aslan Renewables
- Founding Year: 2020
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: Canada
- Signal Strength: Medium
- What they do: Aslan Renewables designs modern hydroelectric dams to revitalize abandoned energy sites across North America and convert them into infinite green energy sources. The company’s River Hydro system utilizes small, custom turbines that transform river flow into continuous renewable energy. Further, the Modular Tidal systems employ tidal turbines as big as a barrel to generate energy without disrupting local ecology. Aslan Renewables’ industrial applications repurpose water flow in wastewater facilities, concrete plants, and agricultural sites to reduce carbon footprints and enhance sustainability. They provide stable, consistent energy year-round and simplify energy management compared to solar or wind. These low-cost, high-yield systems suit small communities, schools, hospitals, and metro grids.
7. Maini Renewables
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: India
- Signal Strength: Medium
- What they do: Maini Renewables provides a scalable small hydro solution that leverages the natural flow of water without the need for a dam. The company’s system uses proprietary rotors with improved efficiencies, with the generator and power electronics housed safely above water. This design reduces costs and enhances reliability. Maini Renewables’ turbines install in natural flows like rivers, tides, and ocean currents, as well as man-made structures such as irrigation canals and hydro dam tailrace channels. With this solution, the company makes hydrokinetic energy affordable and universally applicable across diverse geographical locations. It makes damless power accessible and cost-competitive and supports future cities’ rising electricity demands.
8. SunPlower Propeller
- Founding Year: 2019
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: Germany
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: SunPlower Propeller develops a compact, scalable 2D directional thrust propeller. The company uses fluid propulsion and electric motors while eliminating the need for variable-pitch propellers and complex swashplates to enhance efficiency and reduce noise. The propeller’s design mimics the fluid dynamics of birds and fishes, minimizes turbulence, and optimizes performance for underwater applications. SunPlower Propeller’s technology enables efficient, low-noise thrust generation for both renewable energy harvesting and stealth military applications.
9. Equinox Ocean Turbines
- Founding Year: 2022
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: Netherlands
- Signal Strength: Medium
- What they do: Equinox Ocean Turbines develops ocean current turbines to use stable and predictable clean energy from ocean currents. The company’s turbine technology generates economic energy at low flow speeds. Its commercial turbine, 50-meter Equinox Ocean Current Turbine, produces up to 3 megawatts. The turbines operate underwater and eliminate visual impact while providing 24/7 baseload energy. This technology promotes sustainability in ecological, social, and economic aspects, and contributes to a carbon-neutral future.
10. Max Nicholas Renewables
- Founding Year: 2020
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: UK
- Signal Strength: Weak
- What they do: Max Nicholas Renewables designs ContinuousThrust turbine technology that saves cost with a lower levelized cost of energy (LCoE). Also, it operates efficiently in turbulent, shallow, and fast-flowing waters. The technology protects marine life from blade strikes and acoustic harm while scaling without cavitation limitations. This turbine suits run-of-river settings, and in-pipe outfalls, and uses nearshore tidal races and offshore tidal streams. Its design accelerates water into the turbine to increase power output. The enclosed turbine blades and protective grill ensure silent operation and safe passage for marine life.
Quick Tip to Find New Underwater Turbine Companies
Utilizing a SaaS platform like the Discovery Platform for identifying new underwater turbine companies provides significant benefits compared to traditional scouting methods:
- Streamlined Efficiency: The Discovery Platform offers advanced tools that streamline the scouting process. It replaces hours of your conventional desk research, saving time and resources in identifying underwater turbine innovations.
- Access to Real-time Insights: Gain a competitive edge with up-to-date information on the latest trends in the underwater turbine industry. The platform keeps you informed with near real-time updates on emerging underwater turbine companies and news, enabling you to make swift and informed decisions.
- Tailored Exploration: Customize your search to focus on specific niches within the underwater turbine sector, such as tidal energy hydro-generators, hydrokinetic turbines, or pressure-generated electricity. The platform’s diverse filtering options allow you to target your scouting efforts precisely, ensuring that you find the most relevant and groundbreaking companies in the field.
Explore All New Underwater Turbine Companies!
We’ve explored the dynamic landscape of the underwater turbine industry, examining the latest trends and spotlighting exceptional companies driving innovation. To dive deeper, download our free Renewables Report or schedule a demo of the Discovery Platform for a customized exploration of these groundbreaking developments. Interested in enhancing our coverage of startups and tech? We value insights from experts like you – reach out!
