UK’s only female-founded wave energy company secures:
- first-ever international purchase and
- Asia Pacific development agreement
Scottish based marine energy company ZOEX LTD, is making big waves in international seas with the principle that “small is beautiful.”[1]
Paving the way for global expansion, ZOEX is an emerging technology in renewable ocean energy and is celebrating a key milestone having secured its first-ever sale of its wave energy prototype.
The company’s unprecedented success continues as ZOEX announces it has entered into the largest wave energy development agreement ever seen in the Asia Pacific region. These territories represent the world’s largest blue economy markets, with huge investments in aquaculture, offshore wind and coastal infrastructure.
ZOEX was founded in 2022 by award winning entrepreneur, Ash Penley, a Visiting Professor at The University of Strathclyde. Ash, the only female inventor in wave and tidal energy, developed the company’s modular wave energy concept to help the blue economy decarbonise by replacing diesel generators with clean, cost-effective wave power.
The ZOEX Wave Energy converter is a hinged arm attached to a marine structure which moves up and down with wave motion and captures the energy with a sophisticated electromechanical generator.
The company’s big breakthrough has come following successful long term sea trials at Belde Park, Ordu, on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. ZOEX started the sea trials in July 2025 and managed to collect data continuously for four months, observing the device’s performance in a variety of sea-states. Applied Renewables Research Ltd (UK) provided technical and numerical modelling services to the project and performed the Power Performance Assessment analysis to established international standards (IEC TC114 62600-100).
The ZOEX prototype set a sector benchmark by generating meaningful energy from sea-states as low as 50cm thanks to its patented hinge mechanism, thus the headline “small is beautiful”. It also withstood storms up to 3-meters, matching its design limits. According to Ash, whose background is in Offshore Oil and Gas, boosting robustness to handle 8-meter storms is feasible, in addition the system is typhoon-proof by having a quick-hitch mechanism which allows full dismantle before the typhoon arrives.
Professor Penley, founder & CEO of ZOEX, said: “Storm protection measures will add to the cost, that’s why our strategy is ‘start from easy’ such as Black Sea where the storms wave heights do not exceed 3-meters. But there is a catch, your device needs to be producing energy at small sea-states which we managed to prove during these sea trials.”
Belde Park, Ordu Municipality played a crucial role in this achievement, having invested a six-figure sum to build a brand new test platform and control room for hosting the ZOEX. Securing this purchase order from the Municipality’s fully owned subsidiary Oren Ordu Enerji A.S., ZOEX will now convert the Belde Park test site into a microgrid, providing clean electricity to the park’s streetlights and showcasing the practical benefits of wave energy for coastal communities. The local municipality of Ordu is now established as a leader in Turkey in wave energy innovation.
The development agreement in the Asia Pacific region sees ZOEX partner with EcoStrategy Ltd, a sustainability solutions provider, to launch demonstration projects in Taiwan and Guam, with a project pipeline targeting 100MW within three years.
Professor Penley, founder & CEO of ZOEX, continued: “Prototypes are usually developed for demonstration purposes only, so to secure our first sale of the prototype device, after completing successful real-world sea trials, is a true breakthrough. This, combined with our new strategic partnership with EcoStrategy targeting the Asia Pacific market, is a watershed moment for wave energy solutions worldwide.
“We’re not just proving our technology works, we’re scaling it to meet the needs of communities and industries across the globe, and that’s very exciting indeed.”
The ZOEX solution is also attracting attention in countries such as Peru which faces significant challenges with its poor national electricity grid, and Taiwan who don’t like solar panels due to environmental concerns and land use conflicts.
Ash says that another very obvious benefit for foreign clients is that by delivering 24-hour clean energy, highly polluting diesel fuels can be abandoned.
Dr. Howard Chou, founder of EcoStrategy, said: “We are delighted to be working with ZOEX as its exclusive regional partner across China and the Asia Pacific region. ZOEX represents a new generation of ocean energy being compact, resilient, and designed for regions where land, grid capacity, and energy security are increasingly constrained. EcoStrategy will leverage its regional deployment experience to accelerate ZOEX’s commercialisation across Asia.”
Wave power is the greatest untapped source of renewable energy on the planet and is the most concentrated form of renewable energy on Earth, with power density much higher than wind and solar energy. The ZOEX’s compact design which takes just a 2-meter squared ocean front space delivers similar energy output of a solar farm that’s as big as half a football pitch.
The ZOEX system has many attractions for smaller communities and clients as the device can simply be bolted on to existing infrastructure, reducing the installation cost and obviating the need for major disruption making it easier for consenting.
Ash, who was born and graduated in Turkey, moved to Aberdeen 25 years ago to pursue a career in the oil and gas industry as an offshore safety engineer. The company name, ZOEX, was inspired by her children Zoe and Alex, with the goal to provide clean energy for the children’s future.
With its company-first prototype sale, strategic alliances from value supply chain and partners, and the support of visionary partners like Ordu Municipality, ZOEX is poised to spark further research, investment, and enthusiasm for wave energy solutions worldwide.
