Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, Sept. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal has abundant resources for producing energy from waves and tides, Professor Luís Gato, from the Instituto Superior Técnico, argued on Monday, explaining that the sector is in the research and development phase at international level.

"The technology is not yet at the commercial stage. This means that there are still technical problems to solve from the point of view of survival [of the equipment], because the positive costs have to survive the aggressive conditions of the sea," he explained.

Luís Gato was speaking at the opening of the 16th European Conference on Wave and Tidal Energy (EWTEC2025), organised by the Instituto Superior Técnico, which is taking place in Funchal, Madeira, until Thursday, with around 400 participants linked to research, industry, investment and public policies in the sector, from Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

"We're in the research and development phase at national and international level," he said, adding: "We have a research group at the Instituto Superior Técnico (higher technical institute), which has international relevance, and we work in co-operation with European universities and with projects from other countries."

The aim, he explained, is to develop marine renewable energies, especially from waves and currents, which are "very predictable", and to produce electricity on a "large scale".

Luís Gato said that these are pilot projects at the moment and there is still no convergence of technology in the sense of standardising the equipment, as happened with wind turbines, which are now based on a horizontal axis and three blades.

"We're not at a truly commercial stage (...), as is the case with wind turbines," he said, before adding: "Maybe we need another 20 years to make it commercial."

He considered that the world's energy needs are increasing all the time and that, on the other hand, in order to achieve the decarbonisation targets it will be necessary to rely on all renewable energies, even if they come at a higher price.

"We know that there is a relationship between Gross Domestic Product and energy consumption and this means that as countries develop they require more and more energy," he explained, emphasising that this pressure is currently being felt by China, but also by India and other countries.

"The perspective is that energy is a resource that has to be conserved and will never be cheap. The price of energy will tend to rise," he warned.

Luís Gato said that the aim of choosing Madeira as the venue for the 16th European Conference on Wave and Tidal Energy was to "draw the attention" of those responsible for the sector, especially political decision-makers, to the importance of marine renewable energies, as well as to encourage the involvement of the region, universities and companies in future projects.

"The country, including Madeira and the Azores Islands, has a large exclusive economic zone and the sea is a very abundant resource," he emphasised.

The regional director for the Environment and the Sea, Manuel Ara Oliveira, said that Madeira is "open to innovation" and highlighted some areas in which the region has been a pioneer, such as the installation of the country's first wind farm in 1986 on the island of Porto Santo.

"In renewable energies, Madeira has taken risks. Things don't always go as smoothly as we'd hoped, but in fact in most cases it's been very positive," he said.

In the case of wave and tidal energy, he said that there are also opportunities for "mature projects".

"We have to make our way seriously, for security reasons and also for economic and social reasons," he warned.

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