Ocean Oasis and the EIC Accelerator: Drinking Water From Waves
Ocean Oasis wants to make drinking water at sea, using the energy of waves. The company, founded in Oslo in 2020, builds buoys that desalinate seawater offshore with no grid connection and, it says, no carbon dioxide emissions.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €3.60 million project, ReWater, which ran from August 2022 to March 2025 and validated the "Gaia" prototype buoy off Gran Canaria. Ocean Oasis now leads DesaLIFE, a project of about €10 million co-funded by the EU LIFE programme, to build "Theia", an industrial unit designed to supply 2,000 cubic metres of water a day. In October 2025 the Canary Islands recognised it as a strategic project.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Ocean Oasis AS, org. no. 924 927 194, Oslo, Norway
- Founded
- April 2020
- Technology
- Wave-powered offshore desalination buoys
- Units
- Gaia (prototype, validated); Theia (industrial, planned)
- Partners
- PLOCAN, Port of Las Palmas, DNV, Las Palmas city
- Accounts 2025
- Revenue NOK 6.0M; net loss NOK 2.6M
- EIC project
- ReWater, 1 Aug 2022 to 31 Mar 2025, closed
- EIC funding
- Grant first
Where Ocean Oasis Stands Today
Ocean Oasis's news page in 2026 focuses on DesaLIFE: the strategic project status in the Canary Islands, a study with the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on wave-powered desalination, and what it calls a deepening institutional engagement. The first industrial unit, Theia, will be "built locally in the Canary Islands"; no completion date has been announced. Its 2025 accounts in the Brønnøysund Register show operating revenue of NOK 6.0 million, a net loss of NOK 2.6 million and equity of NOK 15.9 million.
The accounts
Ocean Oasis's 2025 accounts
Operating revenue, net loss and equity at year end for Ocean Oasis AS, in millions of Norwegian kroner.
Brønnøysund Register of Company Accounts. NOK millions.
The Technology: A Desalination Plant That Floats
Ocean Oasis's buoys harness wave motion to run the desalination process at sea. The Gaia prototype was tested over two years of development, laboratory work and open-sea trials, which the Port of Las Palmas' president called a "strategic solution" for producing drinking water without depending on the grid.
"A strategic solution" for producing drinking water without grid dependency.
Beatriz Calzada, President, Port Authority of Las Palmas, 2025What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The EIC project
The EU paid 69% of a €3.60M project
ReWater ran from August 2022 to March 2025. The award was grant first.
CORDIS project 190150864. Values in € millions.
ReWater promised "offshore renewable and clean desalination of sea water". The company reports that it validated Gaia at sea; it has not published how much water the prototype produced or for how long it ran. The next phase, DesaLIFE, moves from one prototype to an industrial unit.
- A working prototype at seaDeliveredGaia validated off Gran Canaria.
- Published performance dataNot shownNo output figures.
- A path to industrial scaleDeliveredDesaLIFE, €10M, EU LIFE.
- Commercial water supplyNot yetTheia not built.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The record
From prototype buoy to an industrial unit
Ocean Oasis says it validated its Gaia buoy in the Canary Islands under the EIC project, and it won EU LIFE co-funding for a 2,000 m³/day industrial unit.
- Apr 2020FoundedOcean Oasis AS, Oslo
- Oct 2021EIC Accelerator cut-offReWater: offshore wave-powered desalination
- Aug 2022EIC project startsGaia buoy prototype, tank and sea tests€2.50M grant
- Mar 2025EIC project endsGaia validated off Gran Canaria
- 2025DesaLIFEEU LIFE-co-funded industrial project, about €10M
- Oct 2025Strategic projectRecognised by the Canary Islands; Theia unit, 2,000 m³/day
Ocean Oasis, CORDIS and the Brønnøysund Register.
The Money
The award was "grant first"; we found no EIC Fund investment. Ocean Oasis has announced a capital raise and welcomed investors on its website, and DesaLIFE brings further EU money through the LIFE programme. Its 2025 accounts show a modest loss and positive equity.
What cannot be checked
How much water Gaia produced, at what cost per cubic metre, when Theia will start operating and who Ocean Oasis's investors are are not public in the sources we used.
Why Europe Should Care
The Canary Islands government backs the project as part of its water strategy, and desalination powered by waves rather than the grid would avoid the emissions of conventional plants. The EU has now funded Ocean Oasis twice, through the EIC and LIFE.
What the project promised
Offshore desalination powered by renewable wave energy.
What the record shows
A prototype buoy the company says it validated, and a funded industrial unit in the Canary Islands; no published output data yet.
The Verdict
Proven at sea, the company says; industrial scale next
Ocean Oasis says ReWater got a wave-powered desalination buoy working at sea, and it has secured the next step with EU support and Canary Islands recognition. The test is whether Theia delivers its 2,000 m³ a day at a price that can compete.
Ocean Oasis has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, EU project data and the Norwegian company register, linked throughout.
Industry
Climate and environmentWater management
- Focus
- Water supply
- Technologies
- Fluid dynamics
- Keywords
- Water scarcity
- Drinking water
- Islands
- Off-grid water
- Wave energy