SINTEF OCEAN AS

What SINTEF OCEAN AS does

SINTEF Ocean AS is a Norwegian applied-research institute specializing in maritime, offshore energy, aquaculture, and biomarine research, formed in 2017 through the merger of three legacy SINTEF institutes: SINTEF Fiskeri og havbruk (est. 1999), MARINTEK, and the Department of Environmental Technology from SINTEF Materials and Chemistry. The company is majority-owned by SINTEF, one of Europe's largest independent research institutes founded in 1950, which employs approximately 2,200 staff representing 80 nationalities. SINTEF Ocean AS is headquartered in Trondheim alongside SINTEF Group's primary research operations and operates specialized physical testing infrastructure including the Ocean Basin and Towing Tank laboratories used for validating floating offshore wave, wind, and solar platforms at scale (e.g., a 1:25 scale, 136x136 meter model test campaign for Flex2Future targeting 8 MW output).

The institute maintains an extensive open-source software portfolio covering reservoir simulation (MRST, OPM, Jutul), carbon capture and storage modeling (CO2 Dynamics, CO2SIM, the coupled FE-CFD fracture-propagation model), battery and fuel-cell modeling (BattMo, Multi-SOFC, VirtualFCS), and renewable power systems analysis (PowerGAMA, Thermopack, Destiny, ZesOpt). Its customer base spans maritime offshore renewables, seafood and aquaculture (Atlantic Sea Farms, Biome Algae, Aurora IMTA), energy and CCS, Norwegian Government agencies, and EU research consortia, executing over 6,000 projects annually for approximately 3,300 customers.

SINTEF Ocean generates revenue through project-based commissioned research contracts with industrial and public clients, supplemented by competitive research grants from the Norwegian Research Council, the EU (Horizon Europe and predecessor programs via a joint Brussels office with NTNU established in 2015), and co-financing arrangements on qualifying innovation projects. Go-to-market is sales-led and direct, with strategic distribution channels anchored by the Gemini collaboration with NTNU, long-running participation in FME and SFI research centers, and contributions to pan-European research infrastructures including ECCSEL.

Name

SINTEF OCEAN AS

Legal name

SINTEF OCEAN AS

Website

https://sintef.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

SINTEF Ocean AS is a Norwegian applied-research institute specializing in maritime, offshore energy, and biomarine research. Formed in 2017 within SINTEF Group, it operates Ocean Basin testing facilities in Trondheim and serves industrial, government, and academic clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime and biomarine research services

NAICS

Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883), Other Support Activities for Water Transportation (48839)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Oil & Gas Field Exploration Services (1382)

akta.pro primary industry

Naval Training, Simulation & Shore-Based Test Facilities (IMAJABAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Offshore & Open-Ocean Aquaculture (AFAEAAAH), Marine Systems Commissioning, Testing & Certification Support (TLAKAKAM)

Keywords

• Contract research services
• Offshore platform testing
• Biomarine research
• Aquaculture research
• Simulation software

Headquarters

HQ city

Trondheim

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Research Contracts and Commissioned Research: SINTEF performs commissioned research for industrial and public clients. The company executes thousands of assignments annually for small and large customers, working on development, innovation, and co-financing projects.
2. Research Funding and Grants: Government research funding including EU research programs and national research council funding. SINTEF is Norway's largest actor in EU research.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SINTEF Ocean AS provides commissioned research and innovation services for maritime, offshore, marine-technology, aquaculture, seafood, and biomarine applications. It supports clients with specialized Ocean Basin and Towing Tank model testing and named research software, delivered through project contracts, collaborations, and co-financed programs.

Product overview

SINTEF Ocean AS is part of the SINTEF group, one of Europe's largest research institutes. The organization offers a portfolio of specialized software tools and simulation platforms, primarily developed for energy, petroleum, and maritime applications. Key products include MRST for reservoir simulation, Open Porous Media (OPM) for porous media analysis, Jutul for multiphysics simulation, CO2 Dynamics and CO2SIM for carbon capture and storage applications, and various energy system modeling tools like PowerGAMA, Thermopack, VirtualFCS, and ZesOpt. Additionally, SINTEF conducts research in ocean/maritime technology including floating offshore platforms for combined wave, wind, and solar energy generation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commissioned research and contract R&D services Applied research and innovation projects commissioned by industrial clients, government agencies, and academic institutions, with project scope, complexity, duration, and co-financing determined by contract.
• Ocean Basin and Towing Tank laboratory testing Model test campaigns and at-scale testing in Trondheim's Ocean Basin and Towing Tank laboratories for floating wave, wind, and solar platforms.
• MRST - MATLAB Reservoir Simulation Toolbox Free open-source software for rapid prototyping of new methods for modeling and simulation of flow in porous media, with users worldwide.
• MRST-co2lab Open source-based simulator and workflow tools specifically developed for studies of long-term, large-scale CO2 storage.
• Open Porous Media (OPM) Open source software initiative for simulation, upscaling and visualization of processes in porous media, particularly aimed at reservoirs.
• Jutul Experimental Julia framework for fully differentiable multiphysics simulators based on implicit finite volume methods with automatic differentiation.
• CO2 Dynamics Modelling tool for transient multiphase flow of CO2 and CO2-rich mixtures in pipes.
• CO2SIM Flexible simulation framework for solving a wide range of chemical processes related to CO2 capture.
• BattMo Battery Modelling Toolbox (BattMo) is a framework for continuum modelling of electrochemical devices in MATLAB.
• Multi-SOFC SOFC cell-level model for simulating complex electrochemical processes in solid oxide fuel cells.
• PowerGAMA Open source Python package for power system and market analysis for scenarios of renewable energy integration in national/international power systems.
• Thermopack Flexible modelling framework for thermodynamic properties of fluids with access to a wide range of equations of state, mixing rules and tools for calculating thermodynamic properties.
• VirtualFCS Open-source Modelica library developed for modelling and simulation of hybrid fuel cell-battery systems.
• ZesOpt Model enabling optimization of design and operation of battery and hydrogen-electric energy systems on ships.
• Coupled FE-CFD Model for Fracture Propagation Control in CO2 Pipelines [SINTEFs koblede FE-CFD modell for bruddstanskontroll i CO2-rørledninger] Advanced coupled fluid-structure model for predicting whether a leak in a CO2 pipeline will form running ductile fracture.
• Destiny Open-source Modelica library developed for modelling and simulation of renewable stationary energy systems.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 6000 research projects executed annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• SINTEF NTNU Brussels OfficemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Joint office in Brussels established by SINTEF and NTNU to coordinate EU research program participation. Before this, from January 2007, SINTEF and NTNU were co-owners of the Trøndelag Europe Office in Brussels.
• NTNU (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing collaboration through the Gemini-samarbeidet (Gemini cooperation) established for joint research and education. SINTEF and NTNU also maintain a joint Brussels office established in 2015 to coordinate EU research efforts. Over 30% of Norwegian companies receiving EU R&D funding do so in collaboration with SINTEF.
• EU Research Programs (Horizon Europe)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSINTEF is Norway's largest actor in EU research. The organization participates in EU research programs through the joint Brussels office with NTNU, facilitating access to Horizon Europe funding and international research collaborations.
• Forskningssenter for miljøvennlig energi (FME)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch center for environmentally friendly energy established as part of SINTEF's portfolio of research centers. FME centers focus on accelerating development and deployment of clean energy technologies.
• Senter for forskningsdrevet innovasjon (SFI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentre for research-driven innovation part of SINTEF's research center portfolio. SFIs are long-term research collaborations between research institutions and industry, focused on generating innovation and knowledge.
• BIGCCS International CCS Research CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational research center for carbon capture and storage that developed the FE-CFD model for fracture propagation control in CO2 pipelines. SINTEF collaborated with other research institutions in this center.
• NCCS (Norwegian CCS Research Center)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContinuation of the BIGCCS research center, focused on solving technical and cost challenges for large-scale CCS implementation. Supports the Norwegian full-scale demonstration project Langskip.
• ECCSEL (European Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Research Infrastructure)majorTechnology or IntegrationEuropean research infrastructure network for carbon capture, utilization and storage. SINTEF contributes 11 relevant laboratories in Oslo and Trondheim to this paneuropean distributed research infrastructure.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Fraunhofer: Germany's largest applied research organization with multiple institutes covering energy, maritime, and production technology. Comparable operating model as a contract-research organization with government co-financing and industry clients.
• Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore: Marine classification and offshore verification business within Bureau Veritas. Competes in third-party testing and certification for offshore structures, including floating wind and CCS infrastructure.
• Lloyd's Register: Global classification society active in offshore verification, marine assurance, and increasingly in offshore wind and energy transition services. Competes for testing and certification mandates on offshore structures.
• DNV: Norwegian classification, testing, and certification society with a large marine and offshore verification portfolio. Competes with SINTEF Ocean in offshore validation and certification, particularly around floating wind and CCS assurance.

Direct peers

• Ifremer: French national marine research institute with deep-sea, aquaculture, and ocean-energy research programs. Comparable in scope to SINTEF Ocean across biomarine research, marine technology, and offshore energy testing.
• MARIN: Netherlands-based maritime research institute operating towing tanks, model basins, and cavitation tunnels for ship and offshore hydrodynamic testing. Most direct analog to SINTEF Ocean's Ocean Basin and Towing Tank capabilities for offshore and ship testing.
• NORCE Norwegian Research Centre: Norwegian applied research institute covering energy, climate, and ocean science. Closest domestic peer within Norway, overlapping in offshore energy, CCS, and marine research.

Regional players

• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland: Finland's applied research institute with maritime, energy, and bioeconomy programs. Similar Nordic contract-research model serving industry and government, though with less concentration on ocean-space testing.
• TNO: Dutch applied research organization with energy, maritime, and materials programs. Comparable contract-research and government-cofinanced operating model; relevant on offshore energy and CCS research.

Emerging players

• Marine Renewables Canada / COVE: Canadian marine-renewables cluster and testing infrastructure consortium supporting wave, tidal, and offshore wind developers. Partial overlap with SINTEF Ocean's offshore renewables and towing-tank testing capabilities in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sintefforskning
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sintef-ocean
• Instagraminstagram.com/sintef

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SINTEF OCEAN AS