As we begin the new year, we want to honor and celebrate the legacy of Johannes Falnes, who passed away last year. Johannes was a visionary and a pioneer in renewable energy, particularly in the advancement of wave energy technology, and personally guided some of CorPower Ocean’s leaders of today.
Professor Emeritus at the Department of Physics of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Johannes Falnes (1931–2024) was one of the pioneers of modern wave energy research and is remembered for his great contributions to the field. His textbook on wave energy, “Ocean Waves and Oscillating Systems,” first published in 2002 and revised in 2020 at the age of 88, has become a seminal work in the field, and is an indispensable reference for anybody working on the details of wave energy conversion.
Together with his colleague Kjell Budal, Falnes initiated wave energy research in Norway in the 1970s. From then on both dedicated their careers to ocean wave energy and its utilisation. They described and demonstrated how the “point-absorber effect” applies to the conversion of ocean wave energy: a small floating body can absorb more energy from the waves than that directly passing across its physical extension. This principle, along with other learnings from Falnes’ research, has guided the development of CorPower Ocean’s technology.
One of Falnes main messages was about how wave energy converters must move to be efficient wave absorbers, referred to as the optimality conditions for phase and amplitude control. From his early theoretical descriptions of optimal motion and control for one and two heaving bodies, Falnes went on to generalise this theory for systems of any number and configuration of bodies.
CorPower Ocean’s Lead Scientist Jørgen Hals Todalshaug, who was lucky to have Falnes as his supervisor, says: “Johannes was an immensely wise, patient, and kind teacher. He inspired me to eventually follow in his footsteps and make the work of developing wave power as an energy source a main project in my life. His legacy lives on in many of us now working to make energy conversion from ocean waves a real alternative.”
