Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Limited has announced that the first of its new generation CETO 5 wave energy units has been successfully installed and is operating at its Perth Wave Energy Project site off Garden Island, Western Australia.
The CETO 5 unit was successfully installed and has now been operating for a little over a week.
Carnegie’s Managing Director, Michael Ottaviano , said: “This initial CETO 5 unit is currently delivering significant amounts of real time data in regards to hydrodynamic movement, pressures, flows, loads, displacements and the like. All of which is critical to validating Carnegie’s proprietary computational models which can then be used with confidence in finalising the design of Carnegie’s 1MW CETO 6 system in 2015.”
Ivor Frischknecht , the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) said the achievement at the Perth Wave Energy Project was of great significance for wave energy in Australia.
“This project demonstrates that wave energy has a real future as part of Australia’s energy mix,” Mr Frischknecht said. “It is also evidence that developing and commercialising new technologies takes considerable time, resources and financing. The CETO technology has been progressively scaled up over the past decade and has made great strides towards offering a competitive renewable energy solution.”
The second CETO 5 unit is currently being finalised ready for deployment which will likely take place in December. Once confidence is established with its operation, installation of the third CETO 5 unit would follow. It is also likely during this period that Unit 1 will be retrieved for a complete inspection prior to a redeployment.
Connection to the Western Power grid will occur once Carnegie has full confidence in the power quality and system control being achieved. Until that point the hydraulic energy delivered ashore will be measured and run through a load bank at the onshore power station site at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island. Integration of the wave energy into the desalination plant will occur after electricity generation and grid connection has been achieved.
The Perth Wave Energy Project has been under construction for approximately 12 months beginning with the installation of the CETO 5 unit offshore foundations last summer. The construction was proceeded by some 2 years of design, approvals, offtake, financing and procurement activity.
More than USD 30 mln has been invested in the design, development and construction of the project. The CETO technology takes a unique approach to wave power by generating both power and water from the ocean swell while remaining fully submerged beneath the ocean surface, increasing its ability to survive large storms.
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Press Release; Image: Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd