The Swedish company CorPower Ocean develops innovative wave energy converters for sustainable power generation and relies on reliable, fast, and efficient suppliers. To honor the best partnership, CorPower Ocean presents the Supplier of the Year award, which for the 2023 fiscal year goes to ifm electronic.

Sustainable energy generation inspired by the human heart – that’s the mission of CorPower Ocean, based in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The idea goes back to the work of physician Stig Lundbäck, who discovered parallels between the function of the human heart and other mechanical systems. The way the heart optimizes its pumping motion can also be applied to converting wave energy in the ocean into electrical power. This system represents a novel approach to clean and renewable energy generation. In 2023, a facility was commissioned in northern Portugal.

“Supplier of the Year” for ifm

This achievement was made possible in part thanks to the products supplied by ifm: the automation company supports CorPower Ocean’s C4 wave energy converter with sensors, controllers, and software. With its reliable solutions, ifm has become a key partner for CorPower Ocean. The Swedish company is now recognizing this contribution by naming ifm its Supplier of the Year 2023.

“We worked very closely with ifm to design customized components and select the right processes involving sensors, controllers, and software,” explains Thomas Lindahl, Senior Procurement & Quality Engineer at CorPower Ocean. “This was a crucial phase in CorPower Ocean’s development, which—after many years of research, design, and engineering—led to the successful deployment of our first full-scale facility,” he adds.

With this recognition, ifm joins a group of renowned companies that form a global supply chain for CorPower Ocean’s products, materials, and services. The fact that the Supplier of the Year award for the 2023 fiscal year goes to the automation company based in Essen is also a source of pride for Fredrik Dahlström, local Account Manager Industry at ifm in Sweden: “We are very grateful for this award and look forward to helping CorPower Ocean achieve even greater success in the future,” he says.