Seapattern bags €5m in rare VC deal for European hydropower

Hydropower is the EU's second largest source of renewable energy, behind wind and ahead of solar.

Yet, private investment in the sector is more of a trickle than a flood – partly due the high cost of large hydropower infrastructure projects and the plummeting price of other renewables.

But Seapattern, founded in 2020, doesn't need new dams to function. It's come up with a way to increase the power generation of Europe's 21,000 existing hydropower plants by between 7-10%.

The company develops small modular turbines that can be arranged like those in conventional hydro plants. When added to existing facilities, they help generate more power from the same water flow – boosting efficiency without the need for new infrastructure.

Niklas Boman, founder and CEO of SeaPattern, said he believes hydropower can still address Europe’s "urgent need for clean, reliable and affordable energy."

In 2024, European hydropower facilities generated an estimate 263 GW of electricity, enough to power more than 200 million homes. Boosting the power output of those plant even by a small percentage could produce a lot more clean power.

“Looking ahead, our ambition is clear: to demonstrate that existing hydropower infrastructure can be significantly enhanced without environmental compromise," said Boman.

Seapattern aims to use the fresh funding for its first commercial-scale trial, at the Svartåfors hydropower plant in central Sweden.

Anna Fredrixon, partner at Norrsken Launcher and board member of Seapattern, said the strong market interest demonstartes the need to "unlock more hydropower."